Minister To Step Down Proposed $50 Baggage Handling Fee

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), has shot down a proposal by some syndicates to introduce a new $50 baggage infrastructure tax for passengers travelling out of the country through the nation’s international airports.

Keyamo, who spoke to New Telegraph briefly on the phone over the weekend, said the government would not impose additional charges on the people and make life difficult for passengers; an indication that the proposal may not sail through.

He simply said: “Go about your normal business. That will be taken care of, and we will not do what will affect this sector negatively.”

The minister has been at the forefront of pursuing the best interests of airlines and passengers with some of his reforms that are at the verge of lowering costs of domestic airline operations and the acquisition of aircraft by local operators at a favourable rate, with delisting of the country from lessors blacklist.

New Telegraph learnt that an unnamed service provider had sent a proposal to the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and did a presentation to the foreign airlines on the desirability of introducing a fresh $50 per baggage infrastructure charge, which some foreign airlines believe would add to price of air ticket and further cement Nigeria’s place as the most expensive country in the world in terms of high charges.

Already, Nigeria charges international passengers $100 known as Airport Service Charge (ASC), five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), which is five per cent of the value of tickets sold, $20 security charge, bringing the total cost of what passengers pay on taxes on international flight to more than $250 per passenger.

These numerous charges have equally made tickets purchased in Nigeria the most expensive in the world; a situation that has made many people to purchase their tickets outside of Nigeria, particularly from neighbouring countries.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the clearing house for over 300 global airlines, recently reaffirmed the Lagos and Abuja airports as topping the list of airports with the highest airport charges.