Ahead of resumption of international flights into the country from August 29, the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) has reviewed upward air travellers’ Passenger Service Charge (PSC) from N1, 000 to 2, 000; effective from September 1, 2020.
Making the decision of the federal aviation agency public during a press briefing, Thursday at the FAAN corporate headquarters in Abuja, its Managing Director, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, said the increase became imperative owing to the negative effects of COVID-19, which has reduced FAAN’s revenue drive by over 95 percent.
Capt. Yadudu said the review has already been communicated to the airlines and “implored stakeholders, airport users and the general public to bear with us as the FAAN is laden with much overhead cost of operation.”
He said, as the country prepares for the full resumption of scheduled international flights, it may be necessary to roll out new advisories for airlines and air travellers, adding: “As soon as these are ready, we would communicate the same to the general public.”
Explaining further the imperatives which drove the agency to the current conclusion, the FAAN MD said whereas the airport management is capital intensive, the agency has not increased Passenger Service Charge since 2011, “despite all the huge capital investments at our airports.”
He said, “The current PSC of N1, 000 is no longer realistic as it does not correlate with realities of cost-related inflation rate, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has put at 12.82 percent. FAAN, until late 2019, was collecting the Naira equivalent of PSC at an official rate of N305.50-N344.38 to a dollar when airlines were collecting at subsisting market rates of about N362 to a dollar.”
Yadudu also disclosed that the federal government is increasing its direct deduction from FAAN to 40% from 2021, explaining that, with such deduction, the Authority will have a shortfall of N16 billion on overhead cost.
He assured that, with the movement of the corporate headquarters of FAAN from Lagos to Abuja, management would do everything possible to ensure that the cardinal values of the agency, which are hinged on safety, security and comfort, are sustained and improved upon.
The MD also assured that the agency will adhere to all protocols of COVID-19 as contained in the Presidential Task Force (PTF’s) advisories.
