An aviation expert, airline operator and former Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt Roland Iyayi has identified the rising cost of aviation triggered by geo- political tension in the Middle East as a contributory factor fueling the near collapse of indigenous carriers, putting them in a very difficult position that they are unable remit the statutory five percent Ticket Sales Charge to aviation agencies.
Iyayi disclosed this today, while speaking on Smailz Radio breakfast show in Lagos affirming that the crisis in the Middle East between the United States , Iran and Israel , leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, triggered a spike in the price of Crude oil and by extension Aviation Fuel globally.
Iyayi explained that while other countries suffered fuel price spikes of between 60%-80%, Nigeria despite been an oil producing country experienced a spike by over 270%, adding that these affected the operating cost of the airlines, as fuel comprises about 40% of the operating expenses of any airline.
He further disclosed that from March 2026,,domestic airlines were selling tickets to buy fuel to fly, which he said created a bottleneck financially for the airlines to be able to meet up their other obligations.
Iyayi stated the airlines could not sustain selling tickets to fly “Now when this happened,,the possibility of airlines remitting the 5% TSC to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority became a challenge and that was the point which the NCAA, was saying that it was strangulated as it did not have enough funds to operate.”
He lamented that a couple of airlines have taken loans since March to the tune of 68 billion naira, to continue to operate.
Iyayi stressed that to avoid the failure of domestic airlines remitting money for the Ticket Sales Charge, the government should introduce a unit cost system whereby TSC is collected at the point of ticket purchase.
He called on the government to create an Aviation Development fund, to address the issue of funding in the sector in order to fix the poor and decaying infrastructure at airports.
He noted that airlines are operating in a very hostile and harsh environment due to poor infrastructure which has lingered for a long time
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