EXPOSED: Illegal private aviation operations in Nigeria

Last week’s suspension of the Permit for Non-commercial Flights (PNCF) of 10 private jet operators by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over flagrant disregard for regulatory compliance has exposed the abuse in the air transport sector.

Amid accusations of engagement in illegal, illicit and other unauthorised activities, private jet operations are becoming a threat to national security, requiring drastic steps to checkmate the infraction, reports The Nation.

 

The activities of private jet operations as the luxury arm of Nigeria’s air transport value chain is increasingly coming under focus as the federal government moves to cleanse the sector from recurring infractions.

To nib such infractions, the government is rolling out a raft of measures to whip operators in the eco-space in line with stringent regulations as contained in the prescribed standards, procedures and recommended practices of both local and international regulators.

Part of the new regulations rolled out by the federal government is a re- certification exercise recently conducted by the apex civil aviation regulator – Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

In the past few years, investigations reveal that the number of aircraft registered in the country by the NCAA has been on the rise.

According to regulatory data, the number of aircraft registered in the country increased from 175 to 358 between 2015 and 2023.

However, it is unclear what the current number as the NCAA and Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), have been closing ranks to arrive at a database of private jets operating in the country.

Experts say a cloud of uncertainty surrounds the ownership/identity of most of the private jets flying in the Nigerian airspace.

While some of the jets were bought for private use, recent reports indicate that some of the jets have veered off their scope of operations allegedly engaging in hire serves for reward.Such practice runs contrary to the regulations of the NCAA.

Jets involved in charter services by the NCAA regulation ought to remit five per cent of the revenue it earns as ticket sales charge to the authority.

Although a few high net worth individuals and organisations allegedly own these jets, documents at the regulatory authority proves otherwise.

A source hinted that these individuals acquire these equipment and hand it over to companies to manage it on their behalf.

Sources also hinted that some players in the sector have been pushing for fractional ownership, a trend that is gaining traction among the financial institutions.

Although a directorate of General Aviation has been created at the NCAA to cater to the burgeoning value chain of private jets dotting airports and other aerodrome facilities at the country, their operations have remained largely opaque.

Over the years, the NCAA has called on the owners and managers of these jets to comply with regulatory provisions, in terms of the scope of their operations, the operators have instead chosen to operate in silos.

The Acting Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, six months ago, said all private jets operating as charter operators will have their licences revoked.

He expressed concern over the illicit activities of illegal private jet operators in the country, and said if private jets want to operate as commercial or charter operators, they should apply for the commercial licences.

But, matters got to a head at the weekend, as the regulatory authority’s sledge hammer fell on the non-complying operators.

Pointedly, the NCAA suspended the Permit for Non-commercial Flights (PNCF) of 10 private jet operators for their flagrant disregard of the rule requiring them to undergo re-evaluation.

The NCAA said the exercise has since April 19, 2024 been concluded.

NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu listed the erring operators to include: Azikel Dredging Nigeria Limited, Bli-Aviation Safety Services, Ferry Aviation Developments Limited, Matrix Energy Limited, Marietta Management Services Limited, Worldwide Skypaths Services, Mattini Airline Services Limited, Aero Lead Limited, Sky Bird Air Limited and Ezuma Jets Limited.

The NCAA warned that it is illegal to engage PNCF holders for commercial purposes.

This is even as the regulator said it will not hesitate to initiate enforcement actions against any PNCF holder found guilty.

To drive this, Achimugu said NCAA officials have been deployed to General Aviation Terminals (GAT) and private wings of the airports to monitor activities of the PNCF holders.

The statement reads: “The Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023 Part 18.3.4 forbids holders of PNCF from using their aircraft for carriage of passengers, cargo or mail for hire or reward, which is described in aviation parlance as commercial operation on charter.”

Prior to the decisive move, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo had accused some private jet owners of using their aircraft for money laundering and drug trafficking.

Keyamo said this during the inauguration of a ministerial task force committee on illegal private chartered operations and related matters in Abuja.

The minister said he had set a five-point agenda that would guide him and his team in discharging the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he assumed office.

He said the five-point agenda encapsulates safety, infrastructure, support for local operators, human capacity development and revenue generation.

Accordingly, he said the ministry has identified issues within the aviation industry “that we must tackle headlong.”

“It has come to my attention, through a series of disturbing reports that the practice of illegal charter operations is thriving within the aviation industry, thereby undermining the efforts of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and other regulatory bodies.

“These illicit activities have not only resulted in significant financial losses to the Federal Government but have also raised security and safety concerns as the operations of private aircraft owners have remained largely unchecked and unregulated,” he said.

This, Keyamo said, has also resulted in using private aircraft for other illegal activities.

“Last week, the National Security Adviser wrote to us, alerting us of the spike in money laundering, drug trafficking and other illegal activities through the use of private aircraft in the country.

“It appears that Private Non-commercial Flight (PNCF) operators have become increasingly emboldened, continuing their illegal operations with the assistance of Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders who collect tolls and list these illegal charters under their AOCs.

“We have received alarming reports that some crew members have not attended mandatory simulator training for nearly three years and are flying with fraudulently-obtained renewed licenses.

“Many of these individuals are operating planes registered under PNCF but are conducting illegal charter operations with impunity,” he said.

To combat the illegal operators, the minister announced the immediate composition of a ministerial task force on illegal private charter operations and related matters.

He said some of the responsibilities of the task force include taking “inventory of all permits for non-commercial flights (PNCF) holders and air operator certificate (AOC) holders, to determine why the practice of illegal charters by PNCF holders persists in the country despite regulatory controls.”

The task force, according to the minister, was also created to “call in all professional licenses of pilots and crew in the country and determine their authenticity and validity, and to recommend to the minister any additional measures to be taken by regulatory agencies to stem this ugly tide.”

He said the committee is expected to recommend appropriate penalties to be imposed by the regulatory agencies on defaulters and additional measures to monitor private aircraft operations in Nigeria.

The minister added that the members of the task force have been carefully selected from within the aviation industry and are people of high repute and integrity.

He named Ado Sanusi as chairman of the committee, Roland Iyayi as Vice-Chairman, and acting director of air transport, aviation ministry as secretary.

Other members of the committee, he said, include Theresa Babayo, director of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Olayinka Oyesola, commander of the presidential air fleet; Daniel Quansah; Patrick Ogunlowo; and Obafemi Bajomo, Keyamo’s special assistant (SA).

Only recently, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said 30 out of 65 verified private jet owners are liable to pay required agency duties to the Federal Government.

Joseph Attah, NCS Public Relations Officer (PRO), made the disclosure in Abuja.

Customs had commenced verification for private aircraft owners in June due to rising insecurity in Nigeria.

Attah said some of these private jets came into the country by the temporary importation agreement.

He said the agreement allows them to bring the planes without duty payment because it was secured by a bond.

According to him, many of them failed to turn up to pay on the expiration of the agreement which necessitated the verification exercise.

He said the exercise would allow more revenue to accrue to the federal government because those who failed to adhere to the agreement would be made to pay the duties.

The Customs PRO also said the verification exercise has been extended again by another 14 days, which began on July 26 and ends on August 6, 2024.

“Considering the rising number of compliance and the number of jets that are liable for payment of duties as well as indications by those people to do so, the comptroller-general has again graciously given them another two weeks.

“The exercise, as I stated in our previous briefings, is not intended to be punitive or to embarrass them but to ensure that these private jets that operate in the country are properly documented.

“It is also to ensure that all revenue is collected into the coffers of the Federal Government,” he said.

Attah said the exercise has created an opportunity for the NCS to differentiate those planes on commercial operations from those owned and used for private purposes.

He reiterated that whoever fails to turn up for the exercise will have his/her aircraft impounded, adding that the verification extension (deadline) will be the last.

Also recently, the federal government grounded a United States-registered Gulfstream G650ER jet owned by a leading Nigerian bank due to unpaid import duties amounting to an estimated N1.9 billion.

The action marks the beginning of the government crackdown on private jet owners who have not paid the required import duties, which collectively run into several billions of naira.

This development follows the NCS’s initiation of a one-month verification exercise for private jet owners in Nigeria, which commenced on June 19, 2024, and will conclude on July 19, 2024.

The exercise aims at identifying and addressing cases of aircraft illegally imported into the country without the payment of import duties.

During a similar exercise in 2019, the NCS recovered approximately N2 billion for the government.

This year, at least 80 private jet owners are required to present their import documents and aircraft certificates of registration to Customs officials in Abuja.

Although the grounding of non-compliant private jets is scheduled to start after the verification period, some operators’ attempts to export their aircraft to evade the exercise have prompted the NCS to begin immediate clampdowns.

Reports indicate that several operators of foreign-registered private jets have been temporarily flying their aircraft out of Nigeria to avoid scrutiny.

In the light of these developments, the NCS has taken pre-emptive measures by writing to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, requesting the cancellation of flight clearance approvals for the non-compliant private aircraft, including the luxury Gulfstream G650ER grounded at Lagos airport.

Experts in the Nigerian aviation industry have accused private jet operators of converting their private jet to chartered services, thereby violating Section 18.2.4.3 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015.

This follows the indictment of Flints Aero Services Ltd, a private jet company by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) in its report on the crash some months ago.

A preliminary report released by NSIB had indicted Flints Aero Services Limited, the airline that flew Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, one of the ministers in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet from Abuja to Ibadan Airport of violating the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) issued to it by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

According to him, the NCAA needed to up its surveillance on the private jet operators, insisting that some of them engage in hire and reward against the license issued to them.

Mshelia stated that chartered operators pay NCAA five percent of their Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and other taxes required of them, but private operators evade this payment.

He insisted that it was an illegal conduct, which must be checked by the NCAA.

He said: “People with AOCs will get your bill at the end of the day and you pay it over time and this goes to government coffers. However, these are totally off the radar of taxes and when last I checked tax evasion is still a crime.

“Why will someone be operating and collecting money and not remitting the required five per cent?”

Mr. Chris Amokwu, an aviation analyst, also claimed that some of the private jet operators fly as much as three to four times to different destinations within the country doing charter, despite claiming to be a private jet operator.

Like Mshelia, Amokwu said this is against the civil aviation rule on hire and reward and wanted the NCAA to beam its searchlight on the activities of some of the private jet operators.

“They get a PNCF and someone flies this aircraft to Lagos three to four times a day. I’ve made this presentation to the CAA before.

“If you are doing your surveillance properly, how does someone who has a private operator license go to Lagos three, four times daily? He takes off in the morning and flies all over Nigeria daily, you should suspect him,” he said.

He challenged the NCAA to begin to ground the operations of any private jet that engages in such an act, maintaining that this could be easily detected by the apex regulatory body in the industry.

Flints Aero Services Limited was issued the non-commercial certificate, which indicated that it cannot airlift passengers for commercial purposes.

But the airline went ahead to operate a chartered operation, which meant that it charged the minister and his team some amount of money to airlift them from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja to Ibadan Airport.

Adelabu and nine others, including two cockpit crew and one cabin crew, had, on November 3, 2023, about 10:00 p.m., involved in an air incident at Ibadan Airport where it had crash-landed into the bush.