The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said its recently released figures of revenue generated from aviation charges are verifiable.
In a statement on Sunday in Lagos, NCAA General Manager of Public Relations, Sam Adurogboye, said that NCAA’s system and processes of generating and gathering data were in line with international standards.
Infrastructure News reports that NCAA recently disclosed that both domestic and international airlines operating in Nigeria sold tickets worth N502.2 billion in 2017.
The regulatory agency said the ticket sale increased by 14.2 percent (N82.7 billion) from N422.4 billion in 2016.
According to the agency, the airlines also made N400. 9 million in 2017 through cargo charges, an increase from N285 million generated in 2016.
Some stakeholders in the industry have, however, disputed the figures, alleging that the Federal Government lost more than N100 billion in Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) from 2013 to 2017 through under remittances.
Adurogboye advised all stakeholders not to doubt the figures or create confusion over them, since they could be verified.
“The process of generating data is as stipulated in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs), 2015, Part 18.12.5.
“All domestic and international airlines operating in Nigeria shall forward to the authority, through an electronic platform provided by the authority, all relevant documents such as flown coupons, passenger or cargo manifests, air waybills, load sheets, clients’ service invoices and other documents necessary for accurate billing within 48 hours after each flight.
“In addition, as part of the billing requirements, the authority collects billable data from airlines, photocopy of flown coupons and Post Departure Manifest (PDM) of international flight operations.
“All these are International Air Transport Association (IATA) documents which NCAA cannot influence,” he said.
According to him, flown coupons contain specific information required by IATA before billings are done and issued.
Adurogboye said that the information included ticket number, name of passenger and TSC.
“It is noteworthy that the prerequisite NCAA five percent TSC paid by passengers is indicated on the ticket. These data are warehoused by NCAA and can be verified.
“The domestic billing process requires an airline to submit to the authority its PDM immediately after every flight departure.
“It is from the filed fares that five percent TSC is calculated. The automated integrated system, therefore, ensures authenticity between NCAA server and airlines,” he added.
