Ticket Sales Charge Row Deepens Over NCAA, NAMA Revenue Sharing

The crisis within Nigeria’s aviation unions has deepened over the controversy surrounding the sharing formula for the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) chapter of the National Association of Air Traffic Engineers (NAAE) openly disowning its national leadership’s position on the contentious issue.

The development has exposed widening cracks within the union over calls by the national body for a review of the TSC revenue-sharing formula in favour of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), arguing that the current distribution no longer reflects the operational realities and funding requirements of the nation’s air navigation services.

Earlier this week, the national leadership of NAAE urged the National Assembly to undertake a comprehensive review of the statutory sharing formula, proposing that NCAA’s allocation be reduced from 56 per cent to 40 per cent, while NAMA’s share be increased from 22 per cent to 40 per cent.

Under the existing arrangement, the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge collected from airline passengers is shared among the aviation agencies as follows: NCAA, 56 per cent; NAMA, 22 per cent; Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), nine per cent; Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), seven per cent; and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), six per cent.

However, in a communique issued in Lagos, the NCAA chapter of NAAE distanced itself from the national body’s position, insisting it was neither consulted nor carried along before the proposal was made public.

The communique, signed by the chapter chairman, Fredrick Agunloye, said the position advanced by the national leadership did not represent the collective views of members across the aviation industry.

“We therefore dissociate ourselves from the publication and respectfully state that it should not be interpreted as the collective position of all NAAE members across the aviation industry,” Agunloye stated.

He stressed that issues of such national importance required broad consultation among members serving in the various aviation agencies before any official position was adopted.

According to the chapter, the Ticket Sales Charge is a statutory levy collected from airline passengers and distributed among aviation agencies to enable each organisation discharge its statutory responsibilities.

“The sharing formula exists because every agency performs a distinct, but complementary role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient aviation system,” the communique added.

The NCAA chapter argued that, as Nigeria’s economic and safety regulator, the authority depends significantly on its share of the TSC because, unlike service providers such as NAMA, it does not operate airports, provide air navigation services or generate substantial commercial revenue.

It explained that the funds are used to finance critical regulatory activities, including certification and licensing of airlines, airports, maintenance organisations, air navigation service providers and aviation training institutions, as well as safety surveillance, consumer protection, accident prevention programmes and enforcement of aviation regulations.

The engineers warned that any reduction in NCAA’s allocation could undermine the country’s aviation safety oversight by limiting inspections and surveillance, delaying certification and licensing processes, weakening training and requalification of safety inspectors, reducing the procurement of critical oversight equipment and affecting Nigeria’s compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices.

While acknowledging that NAMA and other aviation agencies also face funding challenges, the NCAA chapter maintained that strengthening one agency should not come at the expense of another.

It called on stakeholders to pursue sustainable funding mechanisms capable of supporting all aviation agencies without compromising their statutory mandates.

“The NCAA Chapter of NAAE therefore calls on all stakeholders, including the leadership of our association, to embrace wider consultation, constructive dialogue and evidence-based engagement before adopting public positions on matters of national aviation policy,” the communique stated.