5% ticket sales charge: AON got it all wrong

The 30th Annual Conference put together by the prestigious League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents,  on September 10, 2026, with the Theme: Towards a Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands with Sector Growth, was the stage at which the Airlines Operators of Nigeria, led by Air Peace and United  Nigeria  Airlines, pushed for the abolition of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and five per cent Cargo Sales Charge currently payable to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.

This proposition hinged on the airlines’ continually rising operational costs in recent times, the global economic downturn and the current liquidity squeeze. The rising cost of Aviation fuel, owing to the Iran-America war, does not help matters.  In unison, the operators liken Nigeria to Afghanistan as the worst place to do business in terms of the ‘’multiplicity of levies’’ Airlines are being surcharge.

Speakers said there is no justification for the payment of five per cent TSA and five per cent CSC by the Airlines, as that amounts to granting five per cent net ownership of the respective Airlines to the government Agencies.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria are wrong on this course, and they must be told clearly. On the point of Law, the Airlines are wrong. On moral grounds, they are dead wrong. I have written on this subject before under the heading, The misconceptions of tickets among aviation Stakeholders, published in The Punch newspaper on May 18, 2026.

On a point of Law, AON and all those in this frame of mind should please avail themselves of and study the Civil Aviation Act of 2022 as amended. The origin and procedures for the collections are laid out therein.

Specifically, at Part V, Section 23[1]: There shall be a five per cent airfare, contract, charter and cargo sales charge payable to the authority, which charge shall apply to all international and domestic air transportation originating in Nigeria irrespective of place of sale, issuance of air ticket or execution of the contract of carriage.

Section 2 reads: five per cent of airfare, contract, charter and cargo sales charge shall be chargeable on the total amount, excluding statutory fees and taxes.

Subsection a further reads: paid by a passenger for an airfare.

It cannot be right, therefore, for an individual or group, under any guise, to wake up one day, on account of prevailing unfriendly global economic conditions that are not peculiar to the country, and push for the abolition of the funding mainstay of its Civil Aviation Authority. The German Volkswagen recently announced 50,000 job cuts because of biting global economic conditions.  There is no major international airline flying into Nigeria that has not at one time or the other been assisted by its home country on account of financial challenges.

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At no time did any of them canvass that one agency’s funding be wiped out for them to live. The Nigerian government would not be wrong to support its Airlines, but not at the expense of another.

No Act or regulation is introduced in Aviation in Nigeria or in any other country without subjecting it to public discourse before it can be introduced. It must follow what the International Civil Aviation Organisation termed as Notice of Rule Making. ICAO is a United Nations agency for global Aviation. This body prescribes international Standards and Recommended Practices for member States.

Is AON not aware that the five per cent ticket sales charge and five per cent cargo sales charge went through this thorough process?

Is AON not aware that the Nigeria CAA used to collect these same charges beforehand? AON was the same body that popularly canvassed for the collection on behalf of the CAA and for remittance thereafter. The reason adduced then was that CAA’s collection was affecting passengers’ facilitation. The records are there.

The current proposition made one wonder whether new entrants into the Airline business in Nigeria write Feasibility Studies before going into the business, or whether somebody is using or adopting the model of others. Because if honest and truthful Feasibility Studies are conducted, written and studied, the current questions would not have arisen.

There is no country on this planet earth where Airlines are not paying charges.  This can be crossed check or fact-checked. That Airlines are the most regulated and capital-intensive is not peculiar to Nigeria. In fact, some of these factors account for early exits from operations.  Some neighboring countries used to have airlines but now have none, for the same tough economic climate. Let us ask: are Nigerian operators flying to other countries not paying overflight charges, landing fees, parking, fueling, etc.?  Ignorance of these charges would not be excusable. No payment, no services.

Have we ever asked ourselves whether we are aware that foreign airlines collect these same ticket sales charges and cargo sales charges on behalf of NCAA and remit them promptly? Why has it suddenly become a burden on AON?  Please let us examine this further.

Sam Adurogboye is a former General Manager of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority