{"id":3510,"date":"2013-05-11T18:27:42","date_gmt":"2013-05-11T18:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/private-jets-why-fg-insisted-on-declaration-of-manifest\/"},"modified":"2013-05-11T18:27:42","modified_gmt":"2013-05-11T18:27:42","slug":"private-jets-why-fg-insisted-on-declaration-of-manifest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/private-jets-why-fg-insisted-on-declaration-of-manifest\/","title":{"rendered":"Private Jets: Why FG Insisted on Declaration of Manifest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Citizens Platform<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Federal Government said to put a check on the abuse of the use of private jets in Nigeria and for security reasons, it is necessary that pilots flying such jets must declare the manifest of the aircraft.<\/p>\n

The coordinating manager of information and communications for aviation parastatals, Yakubu Dati who made this known, said that illegal consignments, including cash and personalities who may constitute security threat to the country may be\u00a0 airlifted in and out of the country with private jets.<\/p>\n

Dati noted that\u00a0 security operatives have disclosed that many wanted persons in Nigeria were smuggled out of the country with private jets and others sneaked into the country without check as many private jets take off from private facilities at the airports.<\/p>\n

He said what government wants to do is to monitor the operations of unscheduled flights and the manifests of these flights because of the security situation in the country.<\/p>\n

Dati also said charter services by private jets have become a lucrative business in the country because 80 per cent of these private jets have private licence, but carry out commercial operation, remarking that they constitute safety challenges because aircraft with private licence are not subjected to compulsory maintenance checks as those with commercial licence are made to do by the regulatory body, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).<\/p>\n

He also regretted that about 80 per cent of the 150 private jets operating in the country are registered overseas, which means that they are exempted from paying taxes and five per cent charges to NCAA and although they are owned by Nigerians they are still designated as leased so they are brought into the country without paying Customs duty.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when you collate what government agencies lose by the illegal operations of these aircraft it amounts to over N25 billion in a year. And I can authoritatively tell you that it is now a lucrative business that businessmen bring in aircraft to operate as private jets while they are actually used for commercial purposes, so it makes nonsense of those charter operators who followed the laid down process, whose business has now been taken away by the illegal private operators,\u201d Dati said.<\/p>\n

He also disclosed that these illegal charter operators have taken away substantial business from scheduled airlines because those that would have filled the business class cabin are now airlifted by illegal private charter services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis explains why our airlines are not growing. Instead of marked growth of our airlines it is the number of private jets that are growing. This is an aberration so government cannot fold its hands and watch this unfavourable situation which has already started affecting the nation\u2019s economy, knowing the crucial role scheduled airline operation play in any country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dati also regretted that most of the money used to buy these aircraft were made locally but taken away from the country to maintain foreign licence, foreign pilots and engineers and foreign maintenance services.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the government\u2019s policy on the declaration of manifest by private jet operators, the former member of House of Representatives, Ibn Na\u2019allah who own private jets, condemned the policy and said that most policies introduced by government are inimical to airline operation in Nigeria and that explained why many Nigerian airlines collapse.<\/p>\n

He said that as member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Nigeria should not introduce laws that are not in tandem with the philosophy of the international organisation, adding that the declaration of manifest by private airline operators is too restrictive and ICAO detest bureaucracy which is detrimental to seamless air operation.<\/p>\n

N\u2019allah insisted that the reason why government is insisting on the declaration of manifest is actually different from the reason it has given to the public, but he did not explain that \u201chidden reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigeria News. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Citizens Platform<\/p>\n

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