FG considers Dana Air assets to refund trapped passenger funds

The Federal Government may seize assets of Dana Air to recover funds owed to passengers and airline travel agents, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed.

Keyamo made the revelation on Tuesday during the fourth-quarter stakeholder engagement in Abuja, themed: “Leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services.”

The minister said he would direct the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to investigate why funds trapped by Dana Air have yet to be refunded.

He stated that the airline’s suspension was a matter of safety over commercial interests.

“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as a priority. The priority was safety,” Keyamo said.

“I have asked Najomo to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. One solution will also be that if these individuals or entities try to return to aviation under any guise, they must settle their debts first. We should look at their assets. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalise their revenue and pay people. NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it,” he added.

Dana Air’s flight operations were suspended in April 2024 following a runway excursion involving an MD-82 aircraft with registration marks 5N-BKI at Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

The NCAA said the suspension was necessary to allow for a safety and economic audit. The airline’s air operator certificate (AOC) was suspended effective 24 April 2024 at 23:59.

The NCAA Director-General, Capt. Chris Najomo, represented at the event by the Director of Aviation Security Regulations, Dr. Ben Omogo, disclosed that over 9,000 passengers had received refunds or compensation from January to September this year.

Najomo said, “9,529 passengers received refunds or compensation from January to September, with additional claims still under review and being processed according to regulatory timelines.”

Keyamo emphasised that safety would remain the government’s priority, stating that continuing operations under unsafe conditions could have endangered lives.

“The NCAA decided to suspend them, but I pushed them to review the reports on safety records and lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continued flying, many of us could have been victims. God forbid,” he said.