$300 Helicopter Fee Unnecessary – Sanusi Tells Federal Government

It has been requested that the Federal Government reverse its intention to collect $300 in helicopter landing fees from businesses that supply shuttle services to Nigerian oil and gas firms.

The CEO of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi, who made the call, stated that the fee lacked a regulatory framework in a conversation with aviation journalists in Lagos.

Sanusi further maintained that NAEBI Dynamic Concepts Ltd., the business requesting the charge, had not rendered any services that would have justified reimbursement for costs.

He said the corporation could argue for such payment if it had offered any infrastructure, such as improving communications or any other type of service, but that no service was rendered by the company.

Sanusi asserted that the $300 fee was not included in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) cost recovery fees, stating that a business or government must first invest in consumers’ valued infrastructure or equipment before requesting reimbursement.

“For example, if I invest in radios or navigational aids, I will inform the customers that I am making this investment and that I hope to recover my investment over a five-year period,” he stated. However, no investment is made in this one.

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“They should pull it out and show Nigerians the investment they have made in communication, navigation, or surveillance if they or the corporation say there is an investment.

“But you are not a government organization to say that you want to tax people; you haven’t invested anything and you just put a levy on it.”

According to Sanusi, the oil business refused to pay the charge because it lacked justification, even though the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development had ordered it to be done.

Sanusi stated that in addition to many other fees paid to the appropriate government organizations, helicopter operators also pay the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for navigation, terminal, and landing services.

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Sanusi questioned the ministry’s and NAMA’s insistence on the levy’s payment.

Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units, helipads, airstrips, aerodromes, terminals, platforms, rigs, and oil and gas businesses operating in these areas were given a seven-day ultimatum by NAMA in June to start paying the fees.

The fee was deemed to be consistent with international best practices and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standard and recommended practice by NAMA.

The ICAO member states in Europe, Asia, and the Americas were currently collecting the charge, it added.

NAMA had promised that the fee could not be collected again, but the oil and gas corporations disregarded the warning about a month after the ultimatum ended.

In light of the increasing use of drones, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft, NAMA asserts that these levies were necessary to maintain the upkeep, modernization, and acquisition of air navigation infrastructure, which is vital for the safe and effective management of Nigeria’s airspace.

Helicopter operators, oil firms, and the government have been engaged in a four-year-long battle.