Multiple taxation, others bane of ground handling business in Nigeria

Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo

The Managing Director of Skyway Aviation Handling PLC, Mr Basil Agboarumi says multiple taxations, poor airport facilities and other challenges are the bane of ground handling business in Nigeria

Agboarumi, who spoke at Aviation Business Summit Expo 2019, in Lagos over the weekend disclosed that aviation Ground Handling Business in the country was not as rosy as some people may think as the operating environment was not enabling and encouraging.

The two Ground Handling Companies are the Skyway Aviation Handling Company, SAHCO, and the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company, NAHCO, with headquarters housed in Lagos.

With the opportunity provided by the just concluded Airport Business Summit and Expo Africa, ABSE 2019 for stakeholders in the industries having direct and indirect dealings with the airport to rob minds on constraints militating against their businesses,

Agboarumi used the forum to highlight some of the challenges they grapple with on a daily basis in the industry in a paper titled: “The Challenges of Providing Handling Services in a Developing Air Transport Market.”

He said that as a developing country, the challenges were more regional and local than global, adding that, there were challenges that were peculiar to Nigeria as a developing country while the same cannot be said of a developed country with a well-structured system.

He listed these challenges in a developing air transport market like Nigeria to include, high cost of equipment, high cost of training, multiple taxations and Inadequate Airport Facilities.

Others are: delayed payment by clients, multiple Audits, flight Cancellations and underpayment for services.

The SAHCO boss said while the infrastructure was inadequate to cater to their desired needs and not commensurate to what they pay, the authority kept collecting revenue for services not rendered satisfactorily.

“We have to pay through our noses most of the time, we pay a lot to be in business, everybody is collecting, collecting. I don’t want to go into controversy but it become so bad that before you can even sneeze around the airport, you must pay, everybody is squeezing, squeezing, that’s is a problem, that’s is a challenge.”

On the matter of audit and training of its personnel, he frowns at the rigours of multiple audits by the International Air Transport Association, which he said was putting a strain on their finances because of the audits were not cheap and free as it used to be.

Agboarumi urged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to take a cursory look at this area and assist them to talk to IATA whom he said had become a monopoly.

“IATA Today is a monopoly, you either do it their own or you don’t do it. In those days, I know they have various rates for developed and developing, on training that needs to be looked into and I think that the NCAA might need to take up this, we need the same kind of training to give best services.

There was once a time when you need to do ISAGO, ISAGO was like free but today, you have to pay for it, you pay for everything and part of what they come to check has to do with training and so we must training and if you don’t train, you are not in business, and you cannot say because you are a Nigerian the company that you can just go and get training that is not certified by this same IATA.”