NCAA cracks down on 11 airlines over outstanding debts

By Dickson Omobola

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has directed all its directorates to withhold services from 11 domestic airlines until they settle their financial obligations.

Director of Finance and Accounts, Olufemi Odukoya, in a memo dated May 22, 2026, obtained by Vanguard, listed the affected airlines as Air Peace Limited, Ibom Air Limited, Arik Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines, Umza Air, NGeagle Airline, Max Air Limited, Caverton Helicopters, Overland Airways, Rano Air and ValueJet.

The memo, titled: ‘Updated List of Airlines on No-Pay-No-Service,’ stated: “The Director-General of the NCAA, Capt Chris Najomo, has directed that no directorate should render any service to the affected airlines without financial clearance from the Directorate of Finance and Accounts.”

Speaking on the development, an aviation consultant, Adeola Fadairo, said: “It is not only justified, it is long overdue. What makes this situation particularly disturbing is that these funds do not belong to the airlines in the first place. The five per cent Ticket Sales Charge, TSC, is a statutory levy paid by passengers and collected by airlines in trust for the regulator under the laws establishing the NCAA. Once collected, such monies should be remitted promptly and transparently, not retained to finance operational shortfalls or balance struggling books.

“To collect these statutory charges from passengers and deliberately fail to remit them amounts to a grave abuse of public trust and corporate responsibility. No airline has the legal or moral authority to appropriate funds meant for aviation safety oversight, consumer protection, regulatory efficiency, and sectoral sustainability. The argument that remitting these obligations could worsen the financial condition of airlines is untenable.”

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