Three of Nigeria’s major domestic carriers, Air Peace, United Nigeria Airlines, and Aero Contractors, remit over N3 billion monthly into the coffers of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) through the five percent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), Cargo Sales Charge (CSC), and Charter Sales Charge.

The substantial monthly payments come to light as the NCAA moves to intervene in an impending industrial dispute between aviation labour unions and domestic airlines over historical debt accumulations and staff unionisation rights.

According to figures obtained regarding ongoing operational remittances, domestic operators continue to meet their current regulatory charge obligations even while liquidating historical debts.

Despite these multi-billion-naira monthly remittances, two major labour unions—the Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association (ATSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE)- issued a three-day strike notice on August 7, 2026.

The unions threatened to picket airlines over legacy TSC debts accrued during past global spikes in aviation fuel costs, as well as demands for explicit declarations allowing uninhibited worker unionisation.

In response, Chris Najomo, the Director General of the NCAA, alongside the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, intervened to stop the planned picketing, confirming that the airlines have already commenced structured repayment plans for historical debts.

“NCAA absolutely cannot use labor to collect its debt from airlines… The Director General told the unions that the airlines have started paying, so they should suspend the planned picketing,” Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, said.

To resolve the historical debt backlog without crippling domestic carriers, the Federal Government and the NCAA established a multi-tiered repayment framework:

Indebted airlines paid a 10 percent upfront commitment on legacy debts; the balance is being liquidated via structured monthly instalments, and a 30 percent waiver on historical debts was granted by the Federal Government to prevent over-regulating airlines out of business.

Commenting on the development, Ado Sanusi, the Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, described using labour unions for debt collection as an “aberration” and called for an urgent review of the decades-old statutory charges.

Sanusi stressed that while airlines are actively paying billions into the system, the high tax burden threatens the sustainability of domestic aviation, echoing long-standing concerns raised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regarding over-taxation in Nigeria.

“The aviation industry needs a total overhaul. It is high time the five percent TSC is reviewed. Everyone knows that Nigerian airlines are paying so much taxes and charges,” Ado Sanusi, MD/CEO, Aero Contractors said.

He noted that the NCAA possesses direct statutory powers, including license suspensions or referral to anti-graft agencies, if an operator intentionally defaults, rendering union-led picketing unnecessary and detrimental to industry stability.

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Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.