Import duty enforcement on private jets seen boosting govt revenue 

The federal government’s imminent enforcement of import duties on private jet operations in Nigeria is seen boosting public sector revenue, stakeholders told BusinessDay.

Earlier in the year, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace, had said that the federal government was set to arrest and sanction illegal flights and non-certified personnel.

Keyamo had accused new private jet owners of approaching aviation regulators to request approval to use their aircraft to fly family or friends. On obtaining the required licences, however, they would start commercial flights.

The situation may have prompted the Nigerian Customs Service to mull grounding several private jets owned by very important persons in the country over unpaid import duties running into several billions of naira.

Stakeholders have described this move as a ‘step in the right direction,’ which would not only sanitise the sector but also boost aviation’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“I am in support of this movement by the federal government and I have confidence that for the first time,  there is a need for private jet operators who are non-scheduled operators to be oiling the industry. There has been a serious leakage there,” Olumide Ohunayo, industry analyst and director of research, Zenith Travels, told BusinessDay.

“Funds that will have accrued to the government and funds that would have increased aviation contribution to the GDP are leaking badly based on the rules and regulations that have been deliberately and consistently breached by the powerful who could go to the presidency to do their biddings,” Ohunayo noted.

Ohunayo further said that several private jet operators have taken funds away from non-scheduled charter operators by virtue of their actions and have not allowed the Customs and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to get necessary revenue on aircraft.

He noted that the illegal actions of private jet operators have not allowed non-scheduled operators to invest more in getting more aircraft into the country and registering them.

He hinted that while the actions of the federal government would address these anomalies, it would mean that only fewer operators will be flying, leading to an increase in fares.

According to a report obtained from the Ministerial Taskforce on Illegal Air Charter Operations, which was established by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development to monitor the activities of private jet owners in the industry, the number of private business aircraft operating in Nigeria has increased from 44 in 2005 to 157 in 2024, a 357 percent increase in less than 20 years.

The committee revealed that there are 62 active Private Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) licenses. The committee, which was earlier given three months to submit its report to the ministry, stated that many PNCF holders violate the permit requirements by renting out their aircraft for hire and reward (commercial) while denying le­gitimate air charter operators licensed for that purpose from making money from their businesses and expected incomes.

In its preliminary report, the committee claimed that the illegal act was not limited to small-time operators but also included high-net-worth individuals and foreign-registered aircraft.

It insisted that the operators grossly violated the conditions attached to the issuance of the PNCF.

The report also stated that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had failed to enforce the PNCF conditions on private jet owners.

The task force discovered that the criminals used a non-existent passenger manifest, making it difficult for authorities to track them.

John Ojikutu, industry expert and the CEO of Centurion Aviation Security and Safety Consult, said beyond grounding defaulting airlines, they should also be sent out.

“Send out any of them that are foreign-registered and have stayed more than four months and refused to be deregistered. These are the ones that the Customs should sanction.

“The NCAA too needs to investigate if there are such aircraft whose security clearances have expired for which everyone, including NAMA, closed their eyes to,” Ojikutu said.

He described the actions of the operators as “risks to aviation and national security.”

He said that for the already registered ones, NCAA needs to clarify if their licences are validated and current, noting that most of the aircraft are for private operation and not for commercial purposes, even though most of them are operating commercial operations.

“Their operations are affecting the earnings of the commercial airlines. If there are audits and investigations on them, their operations will reduce and this will increase the passengers for the commercial airlines locally and regionally, especially,” he explained.

Seyi Adewale, chief executive officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, told BusinessDay that the wealthy in the society use these private air transport services for speed and efficiency of travel.

Adewale said that concerned industry professionals must remember that many of these private jet operators are not licensed for this type of service and they operate under the guise or cover of ‘free trade zone’ privileges and private hangars.