Stakeholders in the Nigerian Aviation industry has called for a review of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), collected from airlines and in its place, they canvassed unit cost per flight.
It was noted that driving sustainability for the air travel industry over the years has remained a never ending debate, straddling between quick fixes, long term intervention and forward-looking strategies.
The stakeholders noted that this has become imperative to avoid a recurrence of high airlines’ mortality rate in the country.
In a communique issued at the end of the 30th Annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Corrrespondents, LAAC at Providence Hotel, Ikeja, on September 10, the stakeholders made up of aviation experts, chief ececutives of airlines, regulators, airport managers, aviation service providers, media and others noted that to mitigate the effects of flight delays, there is need for proper dissemination of information to passengers early enough to starve off confusion at the airport.
They canvassed for a review of government’s huge revenue expectations from airlines and rather push for more practical ways for service cost recovery.
That in anticipation of the surge in airlines’ fleet size, there is a need for massive investment in airport infrastructure.
They also canvassed enthronement of consistent policies to consolidate the sector’s growth.
They noted that considering the huge market potential of the country, there is need to galvanize the required framework.
They noted that the perceived unhealthy rivalry among stakeholders on revenue sources and industry growth is needless.
The conference advocated the need for the application of practical experience in the approach to the industry’s sustenance for economic development.
They proposed the adoption of KPIs in arriving at charges and taxes issued to airlines by government agencies.
Conference noted with concerns, the multiplicity of changes, which require verification so as not to discourage private investment into the sector.
Participants spared a thought for the conditions attached to personnel choice of unionization.
The stakeholders emphasised that appropriate charges and taxes from agencies to operators in pursuant of revenue should, if it will continue , should go beyond scheduled commercial sales airlines and be extended to other service providers.
It was observed that the desire to consolidate this all important target for the aviation ecosystem has stretched the latitude of aviation strategists, drawing the intersection between balancing government revenue demand with the sector’s growth.
