The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority have begun an economic and financial audit of some domestic airlines passing through troubled times.
Industry stakeholders said the beleaguered airlines are witnessing ‘financial challenges’.
Already, the aviation industry regulator had audited Dana Air and development had led to the withdrawal the operating licence of the carrier by the agency
Top industry sources close to the development said the regulator was currently auditing at least two other domestic carriers to ascertain their financial health.
“NCAA DG has mandated a team to audit three domestic airlines to ascertain if they can still continue operation. Dana Air is one of them. This development led the agency to stop Dana from operating. We don’t know whether the two remaining carriers would fail the audit too,” PUNCH quoted top official of the NCAA as saying.
Meanwhile, the development came barely weeks after Aero Contractors announced the suspension of its operations. It is unclear if the carrier is having financial crisis but the management complained of skyrocketing aviation fuel prices, foreign exchange crisis, among others.
Asked whether the NCAA DG has set up a team/panel to conduct an economic and financial audit on three named airlines, the spokesperson for NCAA, Mr Sam Adurogboye, said, “I am not aware. All I know is that NCAA has a standing audit committee for airlines.”