$300 helicopter landing fee has no legal basis

By Chinelo Obogo

The Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, has called on the federal government to immediately scrap the payment of $300 landing fees by helicopter companies providing shuttle services to oil and gas operators in Nigeria, saying the charge has no legal basis.

NAEBI Dynamic Concept Limited received approval from the federal government under the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to collect $300 helicopter landing fees from oil and gas service providers. Last month, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) issued a directive saying the money ought to be paid by the oil and gas companies and not by the members of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON); that is, the helicopter operators. The agency threatened that it would refuse to give start-up clearance for the helicopter operators if the money was not paid.

But reacting to the directive, Sanusi said that the company demanding the money has not provided any service to warrant payment for cost recovery, emphasising that if NAEBI Dynamic Concept Limited had provided any infrastructure in any way, like enhancing communications or any other kind of service, it could argue about collecting such payment. But so far, the company has provided nothing; so, the payment should be jettisoned.

“The payment of the $300 fee is not part of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) charges for cost recovery because you must invest; then you can now recover the cost. And the investment you are going to do must provide some value to the customer. Let’s say I am investing in radios or I am investing in navigational aids; I will tell the customers I am investing in this, and over a period of five years, I want to recoup my investment. But in this one, there is no investment. If they say there is an investment or the company says there is an investment, they should bring it out and let Nigerians see the investment they have made in either surveillance or in navigation or in communication. But you have not invested anything and you just put a levy, and you are not a government organisation to say that you want to tax people,” he said.

Sanusi, whose company, Aero Contractors, also provides oil and gas shuttle service, said that government is allowed to levy taxes so that it can build infrastructure, provide healthcare, education, and the rest.

The former Managing Director of NAMA said the reason oil and gas companies refused the payment of the fee could be because they know that there is no basis for it.

“If you have invested, then tell the world what you have invested in. Bear in mind that by the Act establishing NAMA, they are the only CNS providers — that is, communication, navigation, and surveillance. So, what else? How did that person (company) get to provide any of these — either the C or the N or the S? My understanding is that today, if the government allows it, charging $300 to helicopters per landing; tomorrow, another will come and he will say that it is $500 he wants to charge. And maybe next year, somebody will come and say, okay, it’s $1000 per landing. Arbitrary people will come because they have access, or whatever they do have, to start charging things arbitrarily.

“Now, they first said the helicopter company should pay. The helicopter company said they would not. They now say, okay, the oil company should pay. But why are we insisting on this payment? Why? That is the question Nigerians should start asking. Why are we insisting that every landing a helicopter does should attract a $300 fee? What is the basis for that? Why are we doing that? There are navigational charges that the helicopters pay. There are landing charges that the helicopters pay when they land at any federal airport or even state airports or any private airport,” he said.

Sanusi said that helicopter companies providing the shuttle service are already paying navigation or terminal charges, which are terminal navigation charges (TNC) or any other charges that they statutorily charge the companies.

“They pay charges to NAMA. I believe that the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development had earlier directed that nobody should pay the $300 fee, and I don’t know why they have reintroduced it again. I still believe that if there is any value this company is adding to the helicopter traffic, then the company should come out and tell Nigerians, ‘Oh, this is the value we are adding, this is the level of investment we have made, and we want to recoup our investment.’ But you can’t go and start charging where you have not invested. This is unheard of,” he said.