Nigeria has been classified a high-risk nation by aircraft lessors since the fatal Dana Air crash in June. As a result, lessors have raised lease rates on aircraft to Nigerian airlines by over 40%, which is expected to rise to 50%.
A Nigerian carrier can expect to pay $200,000 a month for a 737-500, which was previously leased for $120, 000. For NextGen aircraft, lease rates have soared to $280,000 a month.
The increase in lease rates, which have been broadly stable from 2006 to June, is adding to the pressures facing the country’s airlines.
Insurance premiums have risen too. Muhammed Tukur, the Assistant Secretary-General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), blames the increases on statements and actions from the Ministry of Aviation, which he said have helped to fuel insinuations that the country was not safe for aviation business.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Tukur said: “the Dana crash exposed the government. Comments by government, especially the Ministry of Aviation, people who do not know anything about aviation and the panel, set up by government to investigate the cause of Dana crash without following the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) procedures created fear in the minds of these firms.
“The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) is the only one recognised by law to investigate accidents. ICAO, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were scandalised and the public hearing by the Senate further compounded the situation and these companies could no longer trust our system with the revelations that came out of the hearings.”