Three days after grounding the operations of Azman Airlines over N1.2 billion debts and other operational issues, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Friday announced the renewal of the airlines’ Air Transport Licence (ATL).
The regulatory agency attributed its decision to renew Azman’s license to the ability of the carrier to fulfil all the hitherto outstanding requirements.
A short notice emanating from the NCAA announcing the renewal of the airline’s ATL declared: “Consequent upon the fulfilment of all outstanding requirements, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has renewed the Air Transport Licence (ATL) of Azman Air, enabling the airline to resume flight operations.”
NCAA had earlier suspended the Air Transport Licence (ATL) of Azman Air for its failure to remit *N1. 2billion funds collected from air travelers on its behalf to its coffers.
The NCAA director general, Captain Musa Nuhu, equally accused the airline of failing to submit security clearance for the renewal of its ATL, which expired in April 2021.
Nuhu said that the N1.2 billion debt was the revenue accrued from the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) collected from the air travellers by the airline.
The TSC/CSC is shared among five aviation agencies; NCAA, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.
While NCAA gets 58 per cent from the five per cent of TSC/CSC being the major revenue earning for the agency, the other four agencies share the remaining 42 per cent.
The initial grounding of the operations of the airline on Wednesday led to scores of its passengers getting stranded in Kano Airport in particular.
