Nigeria's Aviation Headlines For Wednesday December 7, 2016
Airlines and aviation agencies in Nigeria have lingering disputes over debts owed these agencies by airlines. Payment automation is indeed the way to go!
N38bn Debt: Nigerian Govt Gives Airlines Jan 1 Deadline to Automate Payment
In a bid to put an end to airlines indebtedness to aviation agencies arising from five per cent Ticket Sales Charge/ Cargo Sales (TSC/SCA), the Federal Government has given January 1, 2017 as the deadline for airlines operating in the country to automate their remittance/ payment systems forthwith. The airlines owe various aviation agencies over N38 billion.
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), in a statement, said the automation system is being introduced to ensure transparency, accurate billing and prompt payments of charges due from the airlines to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in line with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) 2015, Vol.2, Part 18.12.5.
Spokesman for the NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, stated that the directive has the full backing of the Federal Government for full implementation and strict compliance, stressing that it is now being handed down after due consultations with the airlines and other stakeholders on the desirability of the operators to join the automation platform for the collection of five per cent TSC/CSC on the airlines operations.
Trump Says Air Force One Boeing Order Should be Cancelled
President-elect Donald Trump called Tuesday for the cancellation of a multi-billion dollar Boeing contract to build the next Air Force One, calling the ballooning costs “ridiculous.”
“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Trump tweeted.
Converting a pair of 747-8 jumbo jets to state-of-the-art luxury command centers by 2024 had been estimated to cost $3 billion when Boeing was picked for the job in January 2015.
The legendary light blue and white liveried jets - “United States of America” emblazoned on the fuselage and an American flag on the tail - are a powerful symbol of US might.
But the current double-decker 747-200s, first ordered by Ronald Reagan and put into service in 1990, are getting old.
Forex Scarcity Hits Travelex, BDCs
Barely two months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave approval to Travelex, a global foreign exchange dealer, to sell Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) and Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) to intending travellers, Daily Sun investigation revealed that acute shortage of dollars may have hit the firm.
The development has left hundreds of travellers stranded as a result of the inability of Travelex to provide them withthe required foreign exchange.
An official of Travelex at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, who pleaded not to be named because he was not authorised to speak, told Daily Sun that for about 12 days, the global forex dealer has been unable to attend to the requests of passengers.
Besides Travelex, majority of other CBN licensed Bureaux De Change (BDCs) are equally without forex to disburse to end users.
Some travellers, who spoke to Daily Sun at the international wing of the airport, expressed their frustrations, saying they might suspend their trips because of their inability to source the hard currency.
A passenger aboard a KLM flight to Amsterdam enroute to Houston, who identified herself simply as Judith, said she blamed the management of Travelex for not communicating with the members of the public, either through advertorial, radio jingles or television to keep them abreast of the development so that they could make alternative arrangement.
The development has left hundreds of travellers stranded as a result of the inability of Travelex to provide them withthe required foreign exchange.
An official of Travelex at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, who pleaded not to be named because he was not authorised to speak, told Daily Sun that for about 12 days, the global forex dealer has been unable to attend to the requests of passengers.
Besides Travelex, majority of other CBN licensed Bureaux De Change (BDCs) are equally without forex to disburse to end users.
Some travellers, who spoke to Daily Sun at the international wing of the airport, expressed their frustrations, saying they might suspend their trips because of their inability to source the hard currency.
A passenger aboard a KLM flight to Amsterdam enroute to Houston, who identified herself simply as Judith, said she blamed the management of Travelex for not communicating with the members of the public, either through advertorial, radio jingles or television to keep them abreast of the development so that they could make alternative arrangement.
The air travel sector in Nigeria may soon be partially shut down as aggrieved workers prepare to ground major airlines over the sack of their members.
The airlines targeted by their workers’ unions are Arik Air, Bristow and Caverton Helicopters, which had all recently laid off employees.
Arik Air accounted for over 40 per cent of domestic operations in the month of September 2016, according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) figures.
Bristow and Caverton Helicopters are both responsible for about 80 per cent of all charter services in the country, but had to downsize over downturn of economic fortunes.
Meanwhile, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) is making efforts to avert a shutdown of domestic operations. Sources yesterday told The Guardian that the operators are reaching out to the Minister of State for Aviation to intervene in the matter.
It was learnt that but for logistics that was not top-notch and non-availability of key members, the trio of National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) would have clamped down on the airlines in protest against some of their members that were sacked for various reasons.
Arik, for instance, has been having a face-off with the unions over the sack of some workers in October for engaging in union activities that were outlawed by the management.
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