Henceforth, failure by any airline or its promoters to remit the mandatory ticket sales charge/ cargo sales charge (TSC/CSC) to the coffers of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) would attract a N5 million fine or two years jail sentence or both, according to a new Act. This is because the new Act empowers NCAA to now delegate the power for the collection of the TSC/CSC 5 percent, especially from a recalcitrant debtor airline and from those who are not on the tripartite agreement with the regulatory body. These are contained in the New Civil Aviation Act 2022 obtained by New Telegraph. President Muhammadu Buhari had assented to the New Civil Aviation Act 2022 in August, which repealed the Civil Aviation Act 2006. The New CAA 2022 section 23(1) states that there would be a five per cent of airfare, contract, charter, and cargo sales charge payable to the NCAA and this applies on all international and domestic air transportation originating in Nigeria, irrespective of place of sales, issuance of air ticket or execution of the contract of carriage. The new Act in section 23(2), also stipulates that the five per cent of airfare, contract, charter, and cargo sales charge would be chargeable on the total amount, excluding statutory fees and taxes paid by a passenger for airfare, in a contract relating to the carriage of persons or goods for hire and reward in the case of air transportation not involving the issuance of air ticket and many others. Section 23(3) of the new Act also states that NCAA may delegate the power to collect the charges from airlines. Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director- General, Civil Aviation (DGCA), had recently lamented that indigenous airlines owed it over N19 billion and $7.8 million accruing from the 5 percent TSC/CSC. The five percent TSC/CSC is statutory and deducted from the total air ticket paid by air passengers to airlines and the same applies to the cargo charge. The sum is shared among four aviation agencies: NCAA, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB). There has been a huge tussle between NCAA and airlines, especially the domestic carriers over their failure to remit the sum to NCAA. NCAA before the repeal of the Civil Aviation Act 2006, got 58 per cent of the total five percent of charges and it is still the major revenue earning for the agency, while the other four agencies shared the remaining 42 per cent in different proportions. However, it is not clear if the 58 per cent collection is still retained in the new Act 2022, but Capt Nuhu warned that the renewal of the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) is still tied to the payment of the debt by airlines. Cost of ground damage to aircraft annually to double $10bn by 2035 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for a transition to enhanced ground support equipment (Enhanced GSE) to improve safety and contain the cost of ground damage involving GSE. Enhanced GSE uses anti-collision and inching technology, improves vehicle control, and increases docking accuracy, all of which minimize the risk of personnel injuries and damaging aircraft. Making a case for enhanced GSE, the call for a transition to Enhanced GSE is detailed in a newly published IATA study which estimates that the annual cost of ground damage could double to nearly $10 billion by 2035 unless preventive action is taken. The cost of ground damage forecast is based on direct costs (including labour and material costs, temporary leasing costs, logistical expenses, and administrative costs) and indirect costs (lost revenue, crew and passenger repositioning costs, compensation costs for delayed services, etc.). According to the clearing house for more than 290 global airlines most aircraft ground damage that occurs once the aircraft is stationary is caused by motorized GSE striking the fuselage of the aircraft. The wide-body aircraft ground damage rate it said is ten times higher than narrow-body aircraft, but regional jets, turboprops, and narrow-body aircraft are 30 per cent more prone to severe ground damage. (New Telegraph)

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