THE Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has directed its departments to suspend services to 11 domestic airlines over unpaid statutory charges owed to the regulator.
The directive was contained in an internal memo dated May 22, 2026, and released on Sunday.
The memo placed the affected operators on the authority’s updated “No-Pay-No-Service” list, ordering all departments to withhold regulatory and administrative services until the airlines settle their outstanding debts or agree on repayment terms.
At the centre of the dispute are the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and Cargo Sales Charge, statutory levies collected by airlines on behalf of the NCAA to fund safety oversight, personnel training and economic regulation in the aviation sector.
The memo also directed that no service should be rendered to the affected airlines without financial clearance from the Directorate of Finance and Accounts.
Signed by the Director of Finance and Accounts, Olufemi Odukoya, the directive was circulated to the NCAA’s regional offices and copied to the Director-General of Civil Aviation and other top officials.
The affected airlines are Air Peace, Ibom Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Umza Air, NG Eagle, Max Air, Caverton Helicopters, Overland Airways, Rano Air and ValueJet.
“The DGCA has directed that no directorate should render any service to the above airline without financial clearance from the Director of Finance and Accounts,” the memo stated.
The directive is coming barely a month after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a 30 per cent reduction in charges owed by domestic airlines to aviation agencies.
President Tinubu approved the reduction on April 23, 2026, in a move aimed at easing mounting financial pressure within the sector.
However, one month later, the government is yet to implement the incentive for the affected airlines.
The Director-General of the NCAA, Chris Najomo, a captain, while explaining the delay a few weeks ago, said: “No, the 30 per cent discount has not been implemented. It is a process. A process that must be followed by all the agencies and airlines. You must call all the airlines together and say take 30 per cent off and pay us our money.”
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.