Nigerian pilot, Captain Benson
Ikponwosa, has warned that there may
be more disasters in Nigeria's air space
if the airport authority continues to
over tax and over charge the local
airlines in its quest to make more
money. Reacting to the recent plane
crash in Lagos state, Mr Ikponwosa said
the issue is beyond regulation as "we
have never been better regulated than
we are now and yet these things are
happening… I think it's gone beyond
regulations." He averred that a lot
more attention is paid to paper work
than the safety of flights. As a result of
high taxes and charges, airlines are
being forced to cut corners leading to
late payment of salaries to airline staff.
The airlines in Nigeria are the most
tasked and most taxed, he said.
"Sometimes to issue a piece of paper
like C of A (certificate of airworthiness),
some airlines pay $10,000, for a piece
of paper for Christ's sake." Ikponwosa
added that "when you pay so much
money for so many things that you
have to have, what happens? You're
pushing airlines to start cutting
corners. The airlines are unable to pay
their staff salaries". He warned that
aviation staff who have not been paid
salaries for months would serve as easy
accomplices to terrorists in the country.
Mr Ikponwosa who landed his first
plane, professionally, in Nairobi, Kenya
as a co-pilot 1987, revealed that
parking fee for the airplane to stay
overnight was $60, "at that time,
parking fee for that airplane in Nigeria
was $200 an hour" and $4,800 dollars
for it to stay overnight. In 2013, the
figure has not changed in Kenya, which
is why the Nairobi international airport
is abuzz all day and all night. "At night,
Nairobi is a beehive of activities
because that is when all the cargo
airplanes come in to carry produce to
Europe". However, the same cannot be
said of the international airports in
Lagos and Abuja. The plans to make
the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport into a hub will not materialize if
you are not 'operator friendly,' he said.
He disclosed that the airport
authorities deliberately chose to use
airport price rates obtainable in
airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick,
Hong Kong etc. "They have forgotten
that you can never take Nigeria and be
equating Nigeria with those countries".
In Ghana, an aircraft is charged $480
per day. "You have to make the
aviation user-friendly and not kill the
airlines, he said, adding that domestic
airlines in Nigeria are being
strangulated as a result of too many
charges which are exorbitant. He called
on the regulatory bodies "to look
inwards to find out why are these
charges overwhelm airlines." Channels
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