…warns that levy will push airfares up, passenger numbers will drop
…says Kalu’s allegation of drugged pilots an indictment on NCAA, Senate oversight
By Dickson Omobola
Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors, Capt Ado Sanusi, in this interview, speaks on two issues that have generated negative reactions in the aviation industry in recent days.
First, the introduction of an $11.5 security levy on all international air tickets for inbound and outbound passengers from December 1, 2025. Second, the allegation by Senator Orji Kalu that some Nigerian pilots consistently fly aircraft under the influence of drugs. Excerpts:
Given the outcry that has followed the $11.5 security levy to be introduced by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, on all international air tickets for inbound and outbound passengers from December 1, 2025, what is your assessment of the issue?
Let me first state that this new tax does not affect us, domestic airlines. However, all over the world, the introduction of taxes and levies is not new, and government will continue to do it. However, discussions happen before such a decision is taken. I know the NCAA probably did that, ensuring that everybody is briefed about what it intends to do with the money.
Also, such taxes are usually targeted for a timeframe. For instance, a $300 million tax is set to be introduced, and many passengers are targeted. After that $300 million has been reached, the collection will stop. This is usually done globally. The reason it is done globally is that it gives a sustainable funding source for the infrastructure, and it reduces the dependency on government budgetary allocation, while improving long-term service quality if the funds are transparently reinvested in the sector. In this case, our industry is already heavily taxed.
We have one of the world’s highest numbers of taxes on airlines in the aviation sector. So, it adds to the passenger’s financial burden, which, definitely, airlines are going to pass on to passengers. Whenever such a tax is introduced and it is not done transparently, you will find such an outcry from people about the funds that they will be giving. I read on social media and other places that the funds might be poorly managed and may not translate into visible service improvement or infrastructure upgrades. Our industry is heavily taxed, and I believe that it should be reduced. That said, this type of tax that they introduce should be targeted and time-bound. So, this is the project we are undertaking, and these are the levies that we need for that project. After we have collected this sum, we will stop the collection to conclude the project. We would like the NCAA to tell us why 20 years. That is why I said there would be an outcry because people have not been told how the revenue will be managed.
Considering that passenger numbers for international travel are already dropping, is this a good time to introduce such a tax?
There is no right time to tax airlines. For international flights and the decrease in passenger growth, a tax is being introduced, which will increase the cost of an air ticket. Some think it will increase fares by $11.5, but I do not think so; it will increase it by more than that. It will increase it by $22 minimum. Maybe by $25 because the airlines will consider the cost of collection. So, they will add something on top. If somebody buys a return ticket, which is for going out and coming in, that person would need to pay $11.5 for going and $11.5 for coming.
That is around $22, and there is the cost of collection. That will increase the ticket price. Will it reflect on passenger traffic travelling? Yes, it will probably result in a decline in the passengers travelling because some people will care about the increase, while for some, they will say the increase is not that much, it is just $25 or $30. The tax levy is significant enough to probably discourage some travellers from travelling or reduce the number of trips that passengers intend to make. Yes, it will have an effect. How far the effect will be, we will not know. We still, and I have said it before, need a way of getting accurate data for the aviation industry in Nigeria. We have data, but we are not sure if it is accurate.
How do you feel about the fact that 30 days after this tax is introduced, the New Tax Act 2025, which mandates airlines to pay the Value Added Tax, VAT, on aircraft, will also kick in?
Well, we (domestic operators) have cried. I have conducted many interviews where I have made it clear that the introduction of the new tax regime might hurt the aviation industry. I believe the Aviation Ministry is also in touch with the Ministry of Finance and other enforcing ministries on this new taxation, and even the presidency. I believe there is something that they are working on because it is in the interest of the country and the interest of the flying public, and in the interest of economic growth to ensure that introduction of this new tax regime would not kill businesses. I believe they are talking about the issue.
I know there have been a lot of meetings going on and a lot of workshops regarding its impact. I believe there are some concessions or delays in implementation till some modifications are added to certain sectors of the economy. I believe they will do that. I do not think that any responsible government would like to tax any business to extinction. The whole idea is to ensure that a balance is struck where businesses are taxed, but they are still profitable and continue to grow, so that taxing them can continue. But if they are taxed to extinction, then not only have you shortened yourself of revenue coming in, but you have introduced another social problem of people losing their jobs and going onto the street.
Recently, Senator representing Abia North, Orji Kalu, alleged that some professional Nigerian pilots consistently take illicit substances before flights. As a professional pilot yourself, what do you make of this statement?
The aviation industry is globally regulated. It is not just a Nigerian-regulated industry. Each airline has its own regulations, while the NCAA does the oversight to ensure that we are self-regulating. It is for this reason that we produce manuals, and we say this is what we are going to do to operate safely. We take those manuals to the regulator, who reads the manual to see if it meets the standard. Every pilot knows that he or she cannot fly an aeroplane under the influence.
Every airline has what we call a drug and alcohol policy. Now, if the distinguished senator has alleged that some pilots are flying under the influence, he has indicted the whole system because he has indicted the NCAA and the Senate Committee on Aviation. He has indicted everybody because the Senate Committee on Aviation has the constitutional powers to do an oversight on the aviation industry.
Also, he has indicted the whole Senate because the Senate approved the nomination of the Director General of the NCAA, who is also a pilot. If some pilots fly under the influence, and this was not brought up during the confirmation of the NCAA DG, then it is an indictment of the senators themselves. If the distinguished senator knew this a long time ago, and did not ask: “How will you curtail this menace of pilots flying under the influence?”
Then that means the whole Senate, too, is indicted. That said, I also think we should look at the reason why he said so. He said so because there was an incident or an accident, and then the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, carried out an investigation and part of their investigation was to do drug and alcohol checks on the pilots. In their report, they said they found that pilots had tested positive.
In a normal country, this should be a police case because driving or operating machinery under the influence is a criminal offence. If that is what they found, then they should continue to investigate and ensure that, yes, that is exactly what it is and find a logical conclusion to it. But if we try to say no, it did not happen, or we keep quiet, or we refuse to address it, of course, we will give opportunities to people like his distinguished senator to make those claims.
If, at the time that it was made public by the investigative bureau, a high-powered investigation was carried out on that particular finding, I believe the distinguished senator would not say that. But we allow things to go, and then we now start social media, which is quite unfortunate. We are killing the aviation industry in our country by doing so.
Yes, we can say we have achieved so many things in the country, but we still lack growth and respect. These are the things that we say carelessly on social media or even mainstream media that will affect investors from coming and investing in our industry. It is quite unfortunate. I have been flying for almost 30 years, but I do not think any pilot will fly under the influence.
And if he does, then it is a criminal offence. Zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol is the best policy for any airline. But if we allow a crack in the system, that is what we will allow people who have no idea or have very little idea of aviation regulations and safety standards to make assumptions and pronouncements.
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