Jennifer Ugwueke
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has decried the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on its business, saying that it suffered 90 percent revenue loss in six months.
FAAN also said that its aeronautic revenue shrunk by N17.5 billion in 23 weeks since the pandemic disrupted business activities in the sector.
This is as Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, said the Government had suspended land allocation to private investors for development, especially at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, the Managing Director, FAAN, at a webinar meeting organised for stakeholders in the industry on Tuesday night, lamented that the COVID-19 pandemic had derailed the plan of the agency, especially for the year 2020.
He stated that FAAN had suffered at least 90 percent revenue loss within the period, adding that despite the resumption of flight services in the local front, its internally generated revenue (IGR) was still severely impacted.
She regretted that the projection of Airport Council International (ACI) that the sector would not recover until 2023 or 2024 had further dampened any hope of early recovery for the sector, warning that without the support of all stakeholders, FAAN might become history.
He said: “FAAN, which depends greatly on internally generated revenue (IGR), has suffered over 90 percent revenue loss in the last six months and will suffer this reduction in revenue for the next few years up to when global travel returns to the pre-COVID-19 level.
“To make matters worse, the Airport Council International (ACI) has forecast that recovery to pre-COVID-19 (2019 level) could take up to the end of 2023 or 2024.
“It is pertinent to clarify that even during the lockdown, FAAN kept the airports open and was involved in evacuation flight arrangements across the airports, which made the authority incur cost on maintenance and utilities despite the total decline in traffic as well as revenue.”
He explained further that in spite of the drastic drop in revenue, FAAN ensured that all its local airports commenced domestic operations having met the requirements by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and other regulatory bodies.
Besides, Mrs. Nike Aboderin, Director, Finance and Accounts (DFA), FAAN, disclosed that the agency had lost N17.5 billion from aeronautic revenue alone in the past 23 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
FAAN generates revenues (aeronautic and non-aeronautic) from the existing airports, especially the Federal Government-owned aerodromes.
She explained further that in all, FAAN had lost 92 percent of revenues (aeronautic and non-aeronautic) from April 2020 till date.
Aboderin, in her statistics, noted that only 8.8 percent of its non-aeronautic revenue was recovered from April till date, when compared to the same period in 2019.
On the impending increase on Passenger Service Charge (PSC) from $50 to $100 for international passengers; $80 from the initial $50 for flights into West African States, and N2,000 per passenger from N1,000, Aboderin emphasised that FAAN had considered all International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommendations before announcing the change.