Aircraft owners advocates cheaper financing to strengthen Nigerian aviation sector
Alex Nwuba, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria (AOPAN), has urged the federal government to provide cheaper financing options for the aviation industry to help local carriers remain competitive internationally.
Speaking on Wednesday at the maiden transport summit organised by JustAlive Communications Limited in Lagos, Nwuba said the aviation sector is profitable but constrained by high operating costs and limited access to affordable funding.
He stressed that meaningful progress would require government intervention to dismantle cost barriers stifling airline growth.
“Aviation is highly profitable, but we must remove the cost structures that are inherent,” he said.
Nwuba reiterated his long-standing proposal for the creation of a national aircraft leasing company to supply airlines with more affordable planes.
“I have always proposed the concept of a national leasing company, we need cheap airplanes,” he said.
He suggested that the government could acquire around 500 aircraft and make them available to domestic airlines at a 4 percent interest rate.
According to him, Nigerian airlines currently borrow at rates between 28 and 34 percent, a figure he warned is unsustainable and detrimental to profitability.
He added that fuel accounts for roughly 47 percent of airline operating expenditure, compounding financial pressures on operators.
Also speaking at the event, Addo Sanusi, chief executive officer of Aero Contractors, linked soaring airfares to policy inconsistencies.
Represented by Femi Oluwafemi, Aero’s head of sales, Sanusi said many Nigerian carriers urgently need fresh capital to expand services and enhance operational efficiency.
He also called for urgent upgrades to airport facilities across the country.
“We have talked about improvement at the international airports, but for the local airports, we can do a lot better in a lot of ways,” he said. “We have a lot of gaps that, as a country, we need to block and we must do that together.”
In his remarks, Remi Jibodu, chief operating officer of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), said the terminal has continued to invest in forward-looking infrastructure.
Jibodu highlighted recent innovations in security systems, stressing the importance of strong security frameworks across Nigeria’s airports.
