President Bola Tinubu has approved a 30 percent reduction in debt owed by domestic airlines to federal aviation agencies, in a move aimed at easing mounting financial pressure on operators grappling with soaring fuel costs.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo disclosed that the gesture was conveyed Thursday night by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
“This evening, Mr. president has definitely approved a 30 percent discount,” the minister told journalists.
The intervention means local carriers will pay significantly less on accumulated obligations, including parking fees to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, navigational charges to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, and other statutory levies.
The decision comes barely a day after Keyamo signalled that the federal government was weighing debt relief options as part of broader measures to stabilize the aviation sector, which has been hit by a sharp rise in the cost of Jet A1 fuel.
Operators under the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, had earlier threatened to shut down operations from April 20, citing unsustainable fuel prices. According to the group, aviation fuel surged from about N900 per litre in late February to N3,300 per litre, an increase of over 300 percent.
Also Read: Airlines threaten shutdown as fuel costs soar
The planned shutdown was, however, put on hold following appeals by the minister, offering temporary respite to the sector.
Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, who has been vocal about the crisis, blamed the situation on what he described as unjustifiable pricing by fuel marketers and called for regulatory action.
“The truth is that the marketers must be brought to book to explain how they got about the 300 percent increase,” he said.
“Even Dangote is surprised, because what he is selling to us still remains the cheapest, and some of them lift from there. So why the astronomical rise?”
Onyema warned that airlines are operating under severe financial strain, relying heavily on borrowing to sustain fuel purchases while trying to meet safety and maintenance obligations.
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