Barr Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development
The unions flexing their ability to retrieve the hundreds of billions of naira in ticket tax the passengers have paid but which the airlines, for several years, have failed to remit, have picked up the gauntlet with a rabid resolve to, without any further delay, embark on actions that would culminate in the payment of the humongous debt by the concerned airlines.
A media statement jointly issued by the unions- Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, and the National Union of Transport Employees, NUATE- declared that “the airlines have decided to siphon the fund to the detriment of our collective safety and well-being”.
The unions averred thus, “It is now established that the pilfering airlines are unfit to remain in our sky that is being serviced by the genuine and patriotic efforts of other sincere and responsible operators in the industry”.
The unions described the debtor airlines as cancerous to the continued safe and prosperous operation of air transport business in Nigerian airspace; hence, the unions claimed they have reached the decision to stop such financially unhealthy airline operations for safety reasons.
“Hence, our Unions, in safeguarding the interests of the airport workers, and in general, the safety of the flying public, have decided to stop the operations of the cancerous airlines in our airports any time from now, without any further notice”.
According to the statement, organisations duly informed are all the airlines that have defaulted in remitting the TSC collected upfront, the Nigerian Police Divisions in all Nigerian airports, the Director of State Services, DSS, and through this medium, the general public.
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Negotiations with defaulted airlines could resolve the issue instead of an actions that will disrupt the free flow of traffic.