An autonomous regulatory agency to be known as the Nigerian Aviation Economic Regulatory Unit (NAERU) will soon be established to regulate the economic, commercial and financial practice of aviation service providers.
With this, the economic regulatory aspect of the aviation industry would be removed from the duties of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Tariff of aviation service providers are to be regulated by the economic regulator in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) policy and in consultation with interested stakeholders.
The latest developments are contained in the new Nigerian Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2013 released last weekend by the minister of aviation, Stella Adaeze Oduah.
According to the new policy, this new unit is being established so as to minimise the potential misuse of market power by aviation service providers and foster a competitive, efficient and fair commercial environment where passengers receive quality services at reasonable prices.
The autonomous economic regulatory unit, however, will be supervised by the minister of aviation when established.
The objectives of the new unit as stated in the aviation policy, according to Oduah, are to remove leakage and ensure transparency of all financial data required to determine the basis for charges; assess and encourage efficiency and efficacy in the operation of service providers and encourage investments to meet future demand.
SADE WILLIAMS
