The Chairman of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC), Mr. Idris Suleiman has called for “stronger and more structured engagement among the federal government, aviation agencies, airlines, airport operators, labour, investors and other stakeholders before major fiscal or regulatory decisions affecting the sector are implemented.”
Speaking at LAAC’s 30th Annual Conference under the theme, “Towards A Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands With Sector Growth” held in Lagos, Nigeria. Mr. Suleiman said “Government has legitimate revenue requirements to fund critical areas of national development. Government-owned and regulated aviation institutions also require sustainable revenue to discharge their statutory responsibilities. But the challenge before us is not whether government should generate revenue from aviation, the more important question is: How much revenue can the sector reasonably bear without undermining its capacity to grow? This is the difficult balance that our conference seeks to interrogate.”
The Chairman also identified policy consistency, the five percent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) debates, infrastructure modernisation among the key issues requiring discussion. He urged stakeholders to look beyond revenue collection and examine how revenue generated from the sector are utilized, including the allocation to regulation, safety, security, infrastructure and air navigation systems.
Mr. Suleiman commended aviation agencies for their efforts in maintaining balance between effective regulation, consumer protection, improved airport infrastructure, a thriving work environment for operators, passenger experience and modernised air navigation infrastructure to improve the efficiency and safety of Nigeria’s airspace. He further acknowledged the investments and reforms being made by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN for the aviation sector.
The Chairman reaffirmed LAAC’s commitment to responsible journalism, stressing that their role goes beyond reporting official statements and press releases but to ask the difficult questions, provide context, scrutinise policies and highlighting both the progress and challenges in the aviation sector, adding that “the league remains committed to promoting journalism that is factual, balanced, responsible and development-oriented.”
Mr. Suleiman noted that “for three decades, LAAC has remained at the forefront of aviation journalism in Nigeria, providing a platform for informed discourse, professional engagement and constructive interrogation of policies and developments within the aviation industry.” He concluded that “our objective should be to emerge from this conference with ideas that can contribute to a more competitive, resilient and sustainable aviation industry.” He added that “we must collectively build the aviation industry we so much desire.”
