Two leading aviation unions, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), have written the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over alleged breach of the “Safety Threshold Ground Handling Charges’ by operators in the industry.

In a joint petition addressed to the NCAA by ATSSSAN and NUATE, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, the unions expressed worry over alleged violation of the pricing agreement reached earlier this year.

The petition, signed by ATSSSAN’s Principal Deputy General Secretary, Frances Akinjole, and NUATE’s Deputy General Secretary, Odinaka Igbokwe, challenged the aviation industry regulator for allegedly refusing to respond to its earlier petition on the matter.

The managing directors of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Skyway Aviation Handling Company, airlines, and union branch executives were put in copy of the petition.

The letter came as competition stiffens among local handling companies.

The major local ground handling companies are NAHCO, SAHCO, Precision Aviation Handling Company Limited, Butake Resources Limited, and Swissport Nigeria.

NAHCO and SAHCO are the largest operators, with presence in several airports across the country.

Earlier in the year, ground handling firms, under the aegis of the Aviation Ground Handling Association of Nigeria, had reportedly reached a consensus to increase handling charges, a development that met stiff pushback from airline operators.

The ground handling companies attributed the upward review of the charges to the country’s rising inflation, which has significantly affected operating costs.

The revised rates included a jump from N70,000 to N400,000 for a Boeing 737 aircraft; N50,000 to N250,000 for CRJ/Embraer aircraft, and N25,000 to N150,000 for Dash 8 aircraft.

The charges for ground support services were also increased substantially. Pushback Service Charge rose from N22,000 to N200,000, while Ground Power Unit Services charge was increased from N20,000 to N180,000 per hour.

Following the pushback from airlines, a 15 per cent reduction from the increase was reportedly by the NCAA.

However, finding by our correspondent showed that ground handling companies, especially the major operators, were accusing one another of violating the agreement by price undercutting prices to attract clients.

In an earlier letter dated July 4, 2025, the unions had raised similar concerns and urged the NCAA to take action to preserve the integrity of the pricing framework.

The unions warned that failure to enforce the “Safety Threshold Ground Handling Charges might lead to industrial action.

Their letter read partly, “Considering the roles our unions played during and after the birth of the agreement, including our undertaking to police the sanctity of the agreement in the interest of the collective, no member/officer of our union shall be held liable for taking any action that is deemed necessary to protect the sanctity of the agreement as and when needed without a recourse to the NCAA.”

The development came as reports suggest the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission might wade into the alleged violations, which stakeholders said might pose threat to safety.

The Director-General, NCAA, Chris Najomo, had recently visited the EFCC’s corporate headquarters in Abuja, where he met with the commission’s Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede.

Details of the meeting could not be ascertained as of press time. (The PUNCH)