After an investigation into allegations of air fare disparities and sharp practises by British Airways and Virgin Airways Nigeria, Senate Committee on Aviation, recommended the prohibition of the Minister of Aviation and any public office holders from negotiating Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with the foreign airlines.
The Senate Committee reasoned that the ministry and its agents have no iota of competence on such issues.
The Committee in indicting both airlines for undermining Nigeria, revealed that while $5.4bn was generated by foreign airlines through sales of tickets between 2006 and 2011, only $4.3bn has since been remitted into Central Bank of Nigeria, between 1999 and 2011, resulting in pressure on the naira and sharp practices by the foreign airlines.
The report of the Committee read by its chairman sen Hope Uzodinma also lambasted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority for being ignorant on the actual amount of money realized from the sales of ticket from foreign airlines.
The development according to the committee made it easy for the foreign airlines to transmit the bulk or rest of the money they make in Nigeria out of Nigeria which force the naira to decrease in value continuously.
In the report, Committee recommended for the removal of the Director of Air Transport in the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Hasssan Musa Ibrahim who single handedly and without any evidence of authority wrote Lufthansa purporting to waive royalty payment.
The Committee also called for the amendment Civil Aviation Act 2006 to make oversight functions and monitoring of airlines by the NCAA a more prominent feautures in the act while reinforcing the power of the NCAA to perform its regulatory role with additional power where necessary.
“The Committee also demanded information on ticket sales by foreign airlines from NCAA. The record shows that the ticket sales between 2006 and 2011 alone amount to $5.4Billion. it is note worth that the period reported by the CBN.”
“They all current BASA negotiations be put on hold until new guidelines emerge in order to avoid the current disadvantages to Nigeria.
“That there exists MOUs entered into by the Ministry of Aviation outside BASA which run against the spirit of existing BASA and national interest. The case of Lufthansa Airlines is a classic example where officials appear to have jettisoned all considerations of national interest in dealing with BASA issues.
“That there is now very serious concern over the quality of knowlegde of those involved in BASA negotiation going by the documents and agreements before the committee.
“That there is urgent need to respond to the United Kingdom scenario by making British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots commercial, requiring them to pay for all
21 frequencies/pair of slots except where Nigerian Carriers are given free slots in equivalent airports.
“That unless we do this, we will continue yo be at the losing end in our BASA with UK.
“That neither UK authorities nor the two Uk airlines- BA and VAA care about Nigeria’s non -acess to our BASA-given slot rights.
“That the open sky multiple designations and the multiple entry points have not favoured us.
On national carrier, they said
Nigeria sorely needs, not just one national flag carrier but at least two or at most three for now.
On virgin as national carrier, the committee said “nigeria’s national interest was not taken into consideration as Richard Branson Owner of Virgin Group was mastermind that brought it into being.
“There was no policy, legal, regulatory and legislative frameworks for its flaotation. Ythe Memorandum of Mutual Understanding that brought it into being sat on a void framework.
“Neither industry stakeholders nor Nigerian public were involved in its conception, formation and road map; not even in its name, logo and livery. The Virgin Group did everything which the then government approved and called it institutional investors, after initialling the MEMU, to pick up 51 percent equity alloted to Nigeria. But Virgin Nigeria had the kind of government backing and privileges no Nigerian carrier ever had.
“Its international services were poor,the airline was poorly managed and inspite of its national flag carrier status, it neither had nigerian representation in its management nor was it accepted in the global aviation circle, even among African airlines, as a true Nigerian national flag carrier. The objective of Branson was to set up a feeder/distributor airline for Virgin Atlantic; a Nigerian airline to be used to give cabotage rights to Virgin Atlantic through the back door.”