Aviation Handling Coy seeks duty waiver for Airport ground operators
Salamatu Ejembi, Lagos
Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc has called on the Nigerian government to provide waivers for aviation handling companies in order to enhance their productivity.
The Managing Director, SAHCO, Mr Basil Agboarumi called on the Nigerian Government to grant duty waiver on operational equipment for ground handling companies operating in the nation’s airports.
Mr Agboarumi made the call when the leadership of the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) in Lagos, paid him a courtesy visit.
He noted that the waiver would go a long way to ameliorate the harsh economic conditions companies in the aviation industry are facing.
Mr Agboarumi said what the company pays to clear its equipment at the port is humongous, adding that the equipment are only used when an aircraft comes in.
“The authorities should encourage us the same way they are doing for airline operators, we are in the same industry and without us, the airlines cannot go into the sky.
“Government gives waiver to the airlines on spare parts and other things, we want them to give the same thing to us for our equipment. With waivers on clearing spare parts, it will do a lot for us”.
Mr Agboarumi lamented that handling companies provide their infrastructure to run their services effectively.
“We have generators that supply our electricity and we have cold room for pharmaceutical products. We have to be on power for 24 hours,”he said.
SAHCO, formerly known as Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited, before its privatisation and handover to the SIFAX Group on December 23, 2009, was carved out of the defunct Nigeria Airways as part of the Nigerian government’s Ministry of Aviation reforms in 1996.
