Nigeria's Aviation Round Table Initiative (ARTI), an stakeholder advocacy group, has urged the government to review the country's civil aviation policy that restricts the age of commercial aircraft to 22 years, a requirement they claim makes 90% of the country's airports economically unviable.
For years, stakeholders have complained about the policy, labelling it as outdated and counter-productive, the newspaper Leadership reported.
Speaking at a Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development-hosted stakeholders' meeting in Lagos recently, ARTI's second vice president, Alex Nwuba, blamed the controversial rule for a capacity shortage among commercial airlines. He said the focus should be on the effectiveness of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) rather than aircraft age and called for lawmakers to be better educated on the issue.
"We hope that some of the training funds from the ministry will be used to train our legislators, because continuing our current policies on aircraft age will ensure that 90% of our airports remain moribund," he warned. He also called for extending the operational hours of airports that close at sunset.
The group also highlighted the need to reform aircraft certification processes and address workforce shortages in the civil aviation industry, which faces challenges in training and retaining skilled personnel.
Abdulfatai Buhari, the Senate Committee on Aviation chairman, raised concerns about the prevalence of old aircraft in Nigeria compared with developed countries. He emphasised that Nigerian passengers often face discomfort due to older planes, the newspaper Punch reported.
However, NCAA acting director-general, Chris Najomo, and Airlines Operators of Nigeria vice-president and Air Peace CEO Allen Onyema countered this claim, stressing that aircraft maintenance is more important than age. Onyema said that Nigeria has one of the youngest fleets in the world, with some foreign airlines operating much older aircraft.
Catering and concessions
For his part, aviation minister Festus Keyama warned to withhold summer 2025 schedule approvals of foreign carriers that do not engage local catering companies, the online newspaper Business a.m. reported. He expressed frustration that local caterers are excluded from the airline catering business despite foreign airlines serving Nigerian routes.
He also highlighted recent developments, including improvements at Lagos airport, the clearing of USD830 million in withheld foreign airlines' funds, and policies to support local airlines. He further noted ongoing upgrades to Maiduguri to achieve international status.
In addition, according to the Daily Trust newspaper, Keyama assured stakeholders and trade unions of transparency and fairness in the upcoming concession of Nigerian airports, promising that unions will be involved at every stage of the process.
