Nigerian airlines owe aviation agencies N37bn – Sirika

Nigerian airlines owe various federal aviation agencies a total of N37bn, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said.

Sirika stated this while speaking at the weekly ministerial press briefing organised by the presidential communication team at the presidential villa, Abuja.

He said the agencies being owed included the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

According to him, Arik owes about N14 billion, Bi-Courtney owing FAAN about N14 billion, adding that for the past 13 years since it began operations, it had not remitted any amount to the agency them as contrary to the agreement.

Sirika said the government had been cautious in demanding the payment, mindful of how the media and Nigerian public might react but vowed that the government would go after the airlines.

Sirika said, “It is about N37 billion that they are owing, especially Arik, the culprit. I know they’re owing us about N13 billion to N14 billion.

“Bi-Courtney is owing about N14 billion as at the last count. It has not paid a single dime since the time it started to run the terminal building. And we have not ceased giving electricity, water, fire cover, and so on and so forth. It hasn’t paid a dime for 13 years.”

On the national carrier, the minister said Nigeria would begin the operation of a new national air carrier in the first quarter of 2022.

“I’m happy to say, we have discussed with the high and mighty. We discussed with Boeing, Airbus, we have reached some agreements. We discussed with airlines like Qatar, and many others. We will have this timeline in 2022 by the grace of God. And we’ll start with the domestic, you know, escalating into international.”