The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that one domestic airline remains indebted to the Federal Government to the tune of N14bn, despite a 30 per cent debt relief package rolled out earlier this year to ease pressure on cash-strapped operators.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Keyamo said the outstanding balance, even after the write-off, was still substantial enough to strain the finances of aviation agencies such as the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). He did not name the airline.”Right now, like they said, our eyes are red,” Keyamo reportedly told the programme, adding that most agencies “cannot perform their functions” without the revenue owed to them.
The minister said the government had chosen negotiation over enforcement, citing the difficult operating environment airlines have faced since jet fuel prices surged earlier in the year, a spike that had pushed the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to threaten a suspension of flights. President Bola Tinubu subsequently approved the 30 per cent discount on statutory fees owed to aviation agencies, a move Keyamo described at the time as a “generous” concession.
According to Keyamo, a recent meeting with operators produced a repayment schedule, and several airlines have already begun servicing their debts. “In the last three weeks or so, many of them paid 10 per cent of their debt, and they are beginning to pay the rest little by little,” he said.
The disclosure underscores a persistent tension in Nigeria’s aviation sector: agencies dependent on statutory charges for operational funding, and airlines squeezed by high fuel costs and currency pressures. Analysts have previously warned that unresolved debt could affect airport infrastructure spending and navigational service upgrades, though the government has not indicated it will name or sanction defaulting carriers at this stage.
