NAMA suspends planned 800% hike in navigation service charges

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has suspended the planned 800 percent increase in airline navigation service charges.

In a statement on Monday, NAMA said the increase, scheduled to take effect in September, was suspended after an intervention by Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development.

“Following the intervention of HM @fkeyamo, NAMA has suspended the planned increase in navigational charges, which was set to take effect on September 1st due to the current economic situation. Further consultations will be conducted to address all concerns,” NAMA said.

On July 26, Umar Farouk, managing director (MD) of NAMA, announced plans to increase the unit rate/minimum charge for en-route air navigation services from N2,000 to N18,000.

Also, Farouk said the unit rate/minimum charge for terminal navigation charge (TCN domestic) would be raised from N6,000 to N54,000 per flight.

The MD said the agency also plans to increase the extension of service hours to airlines from N50,000 to N450,000, representing an 800 percent increase per extension to enable the agency to recover the cost of diesel and other logistics during the extension period.

Farouk added that the agency’s navigational charges had remained the same since June 2008, despite the hike in ticket prices which has gone as high as between N150,000 to N200,000 for a one-way economy ticket owing to the prevailing economic circumstances.