BY LAWANI MIKAIRU & DANIEL ETEGHE

Domestic airlines, under  the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, yesterday flayed the decision of the Federal Government to order foreign carriers into the country to stop payment of royalties, effective October 27, 2014.

Royalties are monies paid to Nigeria by foreign airlines due to the inability of the country to reciprocate Bilateral Air Services Agreements, BASA.

Chairman of AON, Captain Nogie Meggison, said the new government directive will make domestic carriers unviable.

Captain Meggison noted that the stoppage of royalties by the foreign carriers would make government lose huge revenue needed to fix infrastructure in the aviation sector.

According to him, the usage of  BASA funds from royalties have assisted Nigeria in the past to fund major aviation projects.

He stressed that industry experts were not  carried along by the government, stressing that the government took the decision in a hurry to cancel the agreement for which the benefitting international carriers have been officially communicated.