The National Assembly has vowed to protect and support the Aviation sector. President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan stated this when executives of the Airline Operators of Nigeria paid a visit to him at the National Assembly.
It was gathered that the executives were led to the Office of the Senate President by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
Lawan said for private investors in the country’s aviation industry to survive, government policies must be fine-tuned in a way to ensure they thrive.
The Senate President, who pledged the support of the Senate towards ensuring that airline operators are not squeezed out of business said the legislature would look into policies affecting the sector.
According to him, the government needs to strike a very decent balance between encouraging industries to create jobs and employment and also getting revenues.
Earlier, the Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Allen Onyema, while lamenting the reintroduction of government duties on imported spare parts for aircraft disclosed that private airlines would have suspended flying indefinitely last week owing to the high cost of operations.
He added that the return of high duties on imported parts has made it impossible for airlines to undertake clearance of aircraft parts at seaports and cargo sheds, a situation which poses a risk to the safety of fliers.