KEY POINTS
- President Tinubu has agreed to consider waiving the debts Nigerian airlines owe to aviation agencies.
- Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo announced the move at a high-level meeting addressing the Jet A1 fuel crisis.
- Air Peace founder Allen Onyema flagged a 300 percent jump in Jet A1 prices and urged Tinubu to fund the Bank of Industry for cheaper credit.
Allen Onyema, founder and chief executive of Air Peace, walked out of an Abuja meeting Wednesday with what he had been pushing for: a presidential nod to waive the debts that have been crushing Nigerian airlines.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo broke the news, saying President Bola Tinubu has agreed to grant a “generous discount” on the money airlines owe to aviation agencies. The list includes the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. Specifically, Keyamo said the president personally directed the move during their briefing on the Jet A1 fuel crisis that has rocked the industry. Now, the size of the discount sits with Tinubu to decide.
“I had the privilege of meeting Mr President to brief him about the meeting, and Mr President mandated us to quickly bring a request to him,” Keyamo said. “And the first request that he will consider and grant is a generous discount on the debts the airlines are owing the aviation agencies, NAMA, FAAN, NCAA, and so on.” Furthermore, Tinubu plans to set up a committee to tackle the wider problem of multiple charges, levies and taxes on domestic tickets. Additionally, the president will sit down one-on-one with airline operators to discuss access to capital and other long-running concerns.
Onyema sounds the alarm about airline debt waiver
Onyema, who chairs the Airline Operators of Nigeria, did not mince words about the squeeze. He said Jet A1 prices in the country jumped about 300 percent after the Hormuz blockade, far outstripping the rise in global crude prices.
“These airlines are bleeding. We are bleeding. Yes, we threatened to shut down, not because we wanted to shut down, but because we had no money anymore to continue to pay for fuel and neglect other things that are supposed to be done in the aviation industry,” Onyema said.
Beyond fuel, the Air Peace boss flagged the brutal cost of credit for Nigerian carriers. He said airlines elsewhere borrow at 3 percent while Nigerian operators pay 30 to 35 percent, leaving them perpetually short of cash to settle bills with FAAN, NCAA and others.
“All over the world, they acquire at three percent. In Nigeria, we acquire at 30 to 35 percent. This is killing,” Onyema said. “That’s why airlines owe FAAN, NCAA, everybody, because we are the sacrificial lambs.”
He urged Tinubu to fund the Bank of Industry so airlines can access cheaper capital. Meanwhile, he praised the president as “very responsive” and recalled that Tinubu scrapped the 4 percent free-on-board charge on airlines within 24 hours of an earlier appeal.
Shutdown threat dialed back
The Wednesday meeting capped weeks of brinkmanship in the sector. Earlier this month, the Airline Operators of Nigeria warned they would ground all flights nationwide from April 20 over the soaring cost of Jet A1.
According to the operators, Jet A1 prices climbed from about 900 naira per liter in late February to over 3,300 naira per liter within weeks. They called the jump unbearable and unsustainable.
However, the airlines later suspended the planned shutdown after Keyamo intervened, pending the outcome of talks. With Tinubu now stepping in, the industry is betting that relief will land before passengers feel the next round of pain at the ticket counter.
