Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Director, Policy and Regulations of the Nigerian Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Leo Akah, has warned Nigerian airlines that there’s no flight operation without buying insurance cover for their aircraft.
Akah said domestic airline operators are struggling to obtain premium insurance cover, which is required to operate a airline firm in Nigeria. He explained that most of the companies are not buying for long.
According to him, they prefer to buy in bits, such as monthly or quarterly. However, Prime Business Africa understands that domestic airlines operating international flights are forced to pay for premium insurance.
This is due to the lack of trust in the safety of Nigeria’s aviation sector, which is caused by low rating of the industry, even though the sector has low aviation risk and crashes.
Akah, during a two-day aviation, cargo, and export conference in Lagos, said it is not optional for companies not to have insurance as an airline operator, explaining that after a crash, insurance premium always rises.
“Our law says no premium no cover and if you don’t pay, you are on your own. You can’t fly if you don’t have insurance. This is an issue. Even accessing foreign exchange to pay your insurance overseas is among the challenges in the sector. The insurance company won’t collect naira from you.
“It is not optional for you not to have insurance as an airline operator. If you don’t insure your liabilities for example, you cannot fly. We liaise with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that whatever paper is submitted to them at NCAA is an evidence that you have insurance so that they can allow you to fly.”
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