On-going rehabilitation and remodeling projects at various airports in the country has taken a toll on internally generated revenue now inching lower, officials said on Monday.
They, however, assured that the tide would change for the better in the months ahead, with the completion of the projects.
George Uriesi, managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said out of the projected N30.4 billion for aeronautical services for 2012, about N29.8 billion was generated while N21.3 billion was the final sum collected or remitted to the establishment, with an outstanding N8.9. Uriesi also said out of the N14.2 billion projected earnings from the non aeronautical services, only N5.7 billion could be generated, but what was eventually remitted was N5.1billion.
The FAAN boss who hosted visiting members of the House of Representative Committee on Aviation in Lagos, hinged the failure to meet targeted revenue to the remodelling projects, noting that some revenue collection points had to be shut down for the work.
He however noted that the authority’s revenue would quadruple once the airports are all put to use and made to function at full capacity. “We collected less from aeronautical services largely owing to the ongoing remodelling projects and that is why we performed at 38 per cent of the budget but once we are done with the projects, it would quadruple,” Uriesei said.
He said signs of better days ahead could be seen from the newly commissioned General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos where an estimated N100 million has already been raked in, even though the newly remodelled airport was operating at less than its full capacity between October 2012 to February 2013.
The projection for 2014, the FAAN boss said was for the agency not just to become self reliant, but also to serve as a major revenue earner for the Federal Government. Uriesi told the members that it was expected that revenue derivable from remodelled terminals at the airport at full utilization, would be triple what is being generated at the moment, adding that the Authority had devised better means of collecting debt owed it by its customers.
The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation were on an assignment to assess the 2012 budget performance of FAAN. Speaking later, Chairman Aviation Committee, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha urged the FAAN boss to improve on its revenue generation drive.
Onyejeocha has said that the quality of facilities at the commissioned remodeled airport terminals under the Airport Remodelling Project, surpasses the minimum international standard prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for such terminals.
She commended FAAN for its strides noting that the House would aid the airport management agency in recovering its debt and making it a better agency.
