The 5% Ticket Sales Charge and 5% Cargo Sales Charge are bleeding Nigeria’s aviation industry dry. Period!
Every ticket sold has 10% taken off the top before VAT, before fuel, before airport charges. On a ₦150,000 ticket that is ₦15,000 gone. For a family of four, ₦60,000.
The result is obvious: people are not flying. They are taking the road, or they are flying out of Accra and Cotonou to connect. We are pricing Nigerians out of their own market and handing transit traffic to Ghana, Ethiopia, and Morocco on a platter. Airlines cannot compete because a tenth of every fare is fixed by government policy. Routes are cut, load factors stay low, and regional carriers collapse. You cannot grow an industry by taxing it at the point of sale.
This has also created an unnecessary clash between the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency. Both have critical, non-negotiable mandates. NCAA is responsible for regulation, safety oversight, certification, and training. If they fail, people die. NAMA is responsible for air traffic control, communication, navigation, and surveillance. If they fail, the sky is not safe. NAMA in particular has heavier capital commitments right now — radar upgrades, CNS/ATM modernization, and 24-hour airspace coverage — and it deserves its fair share to do that work without begging.
But instead of funding both agencies properly, government lumped them into one automatic deduction that goes straight into overheads.
Because the money comes in every month without performance review, there is zero pressure for efficiency or transparency. It funds salaries and running costs, not infrastructure.
And because the pot is small and shrinking, NCAA and NAMA are forced to fight over crumbs while the industry suffers.
This must stop.
First, scrap the percentage levies. Phase out TSC and CSC within three years, or convert them immediately to a fixed Naira charge per ticket. A volume-based market will generate more money for government through VAT, aviation fuel tax, airport concessions, and jobs than this 10% strangulation ever will.
Second, fund NCAA and NAMA directly from the national budget and through proper cost-recovery. NCAA should be funded to regulate without commercial pressure. NAMA should be funded to secure Nigerian airspace and paid through route navigation charges that reflect actual usage, plus direct appropriation for safety equipment. Put every disbursement in a dedicated Aviation Development Fund with independent audit and public reporting. No more vague deductions. Nigerians must see what is being bought: radars, simulators, inspectors, systems.
Third, government must decide what it wants. If the goal is to make Nigeria an aviation hub, then you do not tax the passenger to death. You grow passenger numbers, then collect from the growth.
NCAA and NAMA are not enemies. They are two sides of aviation safety. One watches the operators, the other watches the sky. Both need to be fully funded and fully accountable. The current 10% levy system fails on both counts.
Pull it out. Fund the mandates. Let Nigerians fly again.
