Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barrister Festus Keyamo SAN has ordered a two-month suspension of the enforcement and collection of helicopter landing fees across Nigeria.
This order was given after meeting with “the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and his team from the oil industry, including the CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan. They were also accompanied by members representing the IOCs in Nigeria, the OPTS and IPPG.”
The Honourable Minister, Festus Keyamo SAN was joined by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, Dr. Yakubu Adam Kofarmata; the Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Umar Farouk; officials from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and their teams.
It would be recalled that the landing fee set by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for operations of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) was introduced in 2024 but implementation started in 2025 despite stakeholder opposition.
According to Keyamo, “the team from the oil industry came to raise their concerns regarding the enforcement of the helicopter landing fee prescribed by NAMA for the IOCs in respect of all their helicopter operations on Oil Fields, Terminals, Platforms, Riggs, Floating Productive Storage and offloading (FPSO) on Heliports, Helipads, Airstrips and Aerodromes. Their concern is that the continued enforcement of the statutory fee may disrupt operations in the sector.”
The Minister added that “after extensive deliberations, I directed a suspension of the enforcement of the collection of the fee for an initial period of two months, whilst we set up an inter-Ministerial committee to further deliberate on the issue and come up with an acceptable position to all parties.”
The suspension of the helicopter landing fee is a relief to the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and airline operators who had long seen the charge as a major disincentive.