Airlines debt crisis triggers safety concerns, Bernard urges NCAA financial audit

Group Managing Director of Finchglow Holdings, Mr Bankole Bernard, said the piling up of debts by airlines and the crisis between the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the carriers over withholding of Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) was a sign that the airlines are in the red.

He urged the aviation regulator to compel carriers to open their books to scrutiny by submitting their financials to the NCAA, warning that if airlines are in the red, it invites compromises in safety.

Speaking to journalists in his office in Lagos on Tuesday, Bernard said, “The airlines’ debts are piling up. It’s part of the financial regulations that we are talking about. How many of them have rendered their financials to the regulator?

“The regulator shouldn’t just limit their checks to look into their financials; they should look at the totality of their operations. If an airline is already red, it will compromise safety. We don’t need that. Safety will be compromised the moment you lack financial discipline. So, we need to really understand this.”

He took a firm stance defending the 5% Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC). He framed airlines’ non-remittance not as a financial burden, but as an integrity and transparency issue.

He noted that since the 5% TSC is collected directly from passengers at the point of ticket issuance, airlines act merely as custodians of the money.

Holding onto these collected funds, he said, amounts to financial recklessness rather than an operational hardship; revenue reconciled via IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) is automatically distributed to regulators and airlines cleanly.

He explained that the dispute centres on direct sales outside BSP, where some airlines withhold funds because of lingering legacy debts.

“If airlines feel burdened by operational costs (such as landing fees or airport facility charges), they should negotiate reductions through formal regulator channels rather than withholding passenger funds collected on behalf of the government.”

To permanently break the cycle of non-remittance, Bernard advocates that the Federal Government write off old, unrecoverable legacy debts (accumulated over decades).

He disclosed that forcing new airline management teams to carry these historic liabilities threatens their financial stability, safety investments, and overall growth.

He supports establishing a centralised passenger data system shared among NCAA, FAAN, NAMA, and NiMet to ensure transparency in passenger figures and streamline charge collection across the board.

He formally announced plans to establish a new flying school (pilot training facility) at the Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport in Ogun State.

The initiative will extend Finchglow’s educational footprint, building on the success of the Lagos Aviation Academy.

Choosing Gateway Airport avoids the congested airspace and high traffic density of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

Ogun State offers ample airspace, lower traffic, and a modern 4km runway, making it an ideal environment for flight manoeuvres and continuous student sorties.

The new facility will primarily focus on core practical aviation training, initially offering programs in piloting and aeronautical engineering.

Because Finchglow already holds an aviation training license from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the new facility will be processed as a license extension rather than an entirely new entity, streamlining the inspection and regulatory process once the Ogun State Government finalises land allocation.

Bernard emphasised that the focus will be on maintaining world-class global training standards rather than competing on low price points.

The goal is to bridge Nigeria’s domestic pilot shortage, reduce the heavy foreign exchange burden of training pilots abroad, and build human capital capacity within West Africa.

Wole Shadare