- The swell in the number of foreigner registered private/corporate jets in Nigeria has been credited to lower insurance cover, convenience to secure crew as well the a ploy to conceal ownership.
- Investigations reveal that many influential Nigerians, who have acquired private/ corporate jets in the last few years, did so under foreign registration.
- A part of lower insurance cover for aircraft with foreign registration, the owners of the aircraft in a bid not to trace the ownership of such luxury equipment to them request charter companies to manage such aircraft for commercial utilisation, maintenance schedule consistency and other technical considerations.
- An industry source hinted that it is commercially convenient to dispose a private jet with foreign registration operating in Nigeria as opposed to an aircraft with Nigerian registration.
- He said the second hand value of a private jet with foreign registration is more valuable as opposed to a private jet with Nigerian registration.
- Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Captain Mukthar Usman, said there are 146 corporate jets in the country, of which only 46 are registered in Nigeria while 100 has foreign registration.
- Confirming the reasons there is an increase in foreign registered private jets, NCAA spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, said the owners of such equipment consider many factors.
- He listed the factors to include lower insurance cover as well as how to optimise second value for such equipment.
Adurogboye said: “There is nothing wrong with people giving foreign registration to their aircraft. All that is critical is that they subject the operations of their private jets in Nigeria to the prescribed rules and regulations rolled out for such category of operations by the regulator.
Reasons Why more Nigerians are buying private jets
