The federal government has reintroduced the $300 levy charged per helicopter landing for air navigational services.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission
(NUPRC) announced the reintroduction in a circular dated August 28 and
addressed to upstream petroleum operators, licensees, lessees and their
helicopter service providers.
However, NUPRC said oil and gas operators will not pay the
terminal navigational charge (TNC) for landings on private offshore platforms.
The commission said the decision followed concerns raised by
upstream stakeholders over the introduction, structure and implementation of
the helicopter levy.
According to the circular, signed by Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan,
NUPRC chief executive officer (CEO), the minister of aviation and aerospace
development constituted a ministerial review committee on March 9 to examine
the levy.
The committee comprised representatives of the NUPRC,
ministry of aviation and aerospace development, office of the national security
adviser, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management
Agency (NAMA) and NAMA’s appointed collection consultant.
Following the review, NUPRC said the committee resolved that
the $300 levy per landing should be retained.
“The Levy of US$300 (Three Hundred United States Dollars)
per landing is retained and remains payable to NAMA through its approved
collection mechanism,” the commission said.
According to NUPRC, the committee also clarified that the
TNC applies only to landings at government-owned aerodromes.
“The Terminal Navigational Charge (“TNC”) is payable only in
respect of a landing at a government-owned aerodrome and does not apply to a
landing at a private offshore facility or platform,” the circular said.
NUPRC said the TNC would remain applicable to helicopter
operations outside upstream petroleum activities, including medical evacuation,
private charter, and agricultural operations.
The commission said the $300 levy would be treated as a
statutory air navigation charge for cost-reporting purposes.
NUPRC added that the commission would communicate the
applicable classification and reporting requirements, including the treatment
of any cost previously recorded under the TNC for upstream helicopter services.
The commission said NAMA is to deploy low-altitude flight
monitoring and surveillance systems for national security and airspace
governance.
NUPRC said flight manifests, movement logs and offshore
activity data would be required, adding that NAMA would communicate the
relevant requirements.
“No new or revised fee, levy or charge having a direct
impact on upstream petroleum operations should be introduced without prior
consultation with the Commission and other relevant stakeholders,” the
commission said.
NUPRC said the requirement was in accordance with section 25
of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The commission directed all upstream petroleum operators,
licensees, lessees and their helicopter service providers to align contractual,
invoicing and cost-recovery arrangements with the decisions.
On March 10, the federal government suspended the
enforcement of helicopter landing fees for two months.
In May 2024, the ministry of aviation and aerospace
development announced that the helicopter landing levy was temporarily
suspended after pushback from stakeholders — one month after approval of the
levy.
However, the levy was later reintroduced in the same year,
but it was not made public.
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