STAKEHOLDERS in the aviation sector on Thursday in Lagos lauded President Goodluck Jonathan for announcing that there would be zero tariff on newly imported aircraft and spare parts.
Jonathan said this during his 2013 budget presentation to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Describinbg the announcement as a welcome leap for the growth and development of the sector, the stakeholders also said it was for the good of the country and the West African sub-region.
Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, the Secretary General, Airlines Operators of Nigeria said, “this is what the AON has been fighting to achieve for the industry for several years.
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“This shows that the present administration is a listening one , concerned about the safety and security of its citizens and is thus doing the right thing.
“Granting zero tariff for the importation of new aircraft and spare parts is what is obtainable all over the world”.
He recalled that the retired Air Chief Marshal, Paul Dike Committee set up by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration after Bellview, Sosoliso and ADC Airlines aircraft crashed, also made similar recommendations.
“That was what other committees set up after it had also been recommending as the way forward for the aviation sector”, Tukur said.
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He also commended the Minister of Aviation , Princess Stella Oduah, for believing and supporting the cause that the AON has been fighting for and seeing it to reality.
Also, retired Capt. Dele Ore of the Aviation Round Table (ART), a non-governmental organisation (NGO in the aviation sector, commended the announcement as part of the successes of ART to national development.
He recalled that ART had over the last 10 years been in the fore front of the struggle for the actualisation of zero tariff for imported new aircraft and spare parts.
“We at ART congratulate the president on this noble gesture because in the 52 years of the existence of the aviation sector in Nigeria, this is the greatest and most vibrant decision to be taken by any administration,” Ore said.
He advised the FG to set up a monitoring team that would ensure that operators do not import fake or substandard aircraft and spare parts into the country.
“With that, operators would not abuse the policy which I consider as the first major relief and waiver to be granted by the FG to improve the growth and development of the sector.
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“ I think that the FG would think of coming up with other relief measures that would include the establishment of aircraft maintenance hangars in the country, if this one is not abused,” he said.
Ore, also suggested that the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) should be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that only genuine aircraft and spare parts were imported into the country.
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“Through that, both the aircraft operators and passengers would enjoy the benefits that would accrue from it, such as reduction in passengers air fares, ” Ore said.
Also, Mr Benjamin Okewu, President, Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), said that the policy, if well implemented, would bring a new lease of life to the aviation sector.
He said that the cost of buying a new aircraft has been a major factor infringing on the industry and potential airline operators.
“With this initiative, the country will be able to safe more money and build bigger terminals across the nation. It will enhance the development of the aviation industry.
“It will also boost the nation’s economic activities more within the sector and the nation at large. The cargo wing of the airports will also be developed as a lot of goods come into the country through the air,’’ he said.
Okewu noted that with this FG’s initiative, the country would become a hub that would be supplying the West Africa sub-region and the entire African countries with cargo services.
The unionist said that the initiative would attract foreign investors into the country to establish more airlines, saying that it would also allow existing airlines to merge.
In the same vein,Capt. Muhammed Joji, a former captain with the defunct Nigeria Airways, noted that the 2013 appropriation budget was a good development concerning the aviation sector.
He appealed to the National Assembly to pass the budget, while urging the President to “put his feet down and implement the budget’’