The Airline Operators of Nigeria has denied claims that domestic airlines owe the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority outstanding cost recovery charges, insisting that all regulatory services rendered by the authority are paid for in advance.

The dispute comes amid rising tensions in the aviation sector following the NCAA’s recent move placing 11 domestic airlines, including Air Peace, Ibom Air, and Arik Air, on a “No-Pay-No-Service” list over alleged unpaid statutory charges.

In a statement issued on Monday, the association described media reports credited to the NCAA as misleading and accused the regulator of attempting to use the media to pressure operators outside established procedures.

“The Airline Operators of Nigeria wishes to set the record straight in response to recent media publications credited to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which portrayed member airlines as being indebted to the regulatory agency for services rendered to operators.

“These publications are not only misleading but represent a worrisome and unacceptable attempt to use the media to regulate operators outside the established regulatory framework,” the statement read. “The AON condemns this in the strongest possible terms.”

According to the operators, all cost recovery services provided by the NCAA are paid for before such services are rendered. “The AON wishes to make it clear that all cost recovery services rendered by the NCAA to domestic airline operators are paid for fully in advance on a cash-before-service basis,” it said.

The association explained that the NCAA issues invoices for services such as crew licence validation, aircraft inspections, and documentation renewals, which must be settled before any service is provided.

“In practice, no domestic airline in Nigeria receives NCAA regulatory services without first making the full payment of invoices issued to it by the NCAA,” the association stated.

The AON clarified that what the NCAA described as “outstanding charges” relates only to the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge, which it described as a tax imposed on passengers.

“What the NCAA refers to as ‘outstanding charges’ relates solely to the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge, a tax imposed by the NCAA on passengers for no services rendered to passengers and not in consonance with the dictates of international aviation,” it said.

The association added that some airlines previously operated dedicated accounts from which remittances were made, but noted that global economic pressures, worsened by the Iran–Israel/USA conflict and rising Jet A1 costs, had strained operations.

The group said it had appealed to the Federal Government through the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, for temporary relief from statutory charges to ease cash flow challenges.

According to the statement, President Bola Tinubu approved a 30 per cent concession pending further government consideration of other relief requests.

“As an interim response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu graciously granted a 30% concession, while waiting for the government decision on the other aspects of the AON intervention request,” it said.

The operators maintained that the NCAA should remain strictly a regulatory body, not a revenue-generating agency. “The AON reiterates its position that the NCAA is a regulatory body, not a revenue-generating agency,” the statement added.

The association also called for an urgent amendment of the Civil Aviation Act to enable the NCAA to collect charges directly from passengers or other designated sources rather than through airlines.

“In view of the above, the AON calls on the Federal Government to urgently amend the Civil Aviation Act to empower the NCAA to collect whatever appropriate fees and charges are due to it directly from passengers or whoever else, without routing such through the domestic airlines. We request this to take effect from June 1, 2026,” the statement read.

The group argued that airlines currently bear additional banking and transaction costs while serving as collection agents for the NCAA. The association traced the origin of the five per cent TSC to the era of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, when it was introduced by the defunct Federal Civil Aviation Authority to support airport maintenance due to limited government funding.

It noted that Nigeria Airways, the only domestic airline at the time, did not pay the charge, as it applied mainly to foreign carriers. The operators also highlighted multiple taxes and charges imposed on airlines by various aviation agencies, saying the cumulative burden has become severe amid global economic shocks.

“The financial impact of these taxes, fees, charges, and levies is adverse, burdensome, and excruciating, especially at this precarious period, when the entire world has been exposed to the exogenous shocks of the Iran–Israel/USA crisis,” the statement said.

The AON stressed that the aviation sector is critical to economic growth and warned that urgent policy intervention is needed to sustain domestic carriers.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority had earlier directed departments to withhold services from defaulting operators until debts are cleared or repayment arrangements are agreed.