(NIGERIA) — The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority suspended its “no pay, no service” enforcement against 11 indebted domestic airlines after consultations with aviation stakeholders, stepping back from an order that would have cut off regulatory and administrative services to carriers with unpaid statutory obligations.

The authority did not cancel the policy, and it did not forgive the debts. NCAA Director-General Captain Chris Najomo said the suspension is temporary and “should not be interpreted as a cancellation, waiver, or forgiveness” of the airlines’ obligations.

An internal memo dated May 22 named the affected airlines as Air Peace Ltd., Ibom Air, Arik Air Ltd., United Nigeria Airlines, Umza Air, NG Eagle, Max Air Limited, Caverton Helicopters, Overland Airways, Rano Air, and ValueJet.

Before the suspension, the NCAA had ordered its directorates to withhold services from those airlines until they cleared outstanding statutory remittances or agreed repayment plans. The policy placed compliance and debt recovery at the center of the regulator’s approach.

The obligations at issue were described as statutory charges owed to the regulator. NCAA framed the move as an enforcement measure tied to remittances and repayment, not as punishment for its own sake.

That distinction shaped Najomo’s position as the authority paused the order. He said NCAA would continue structured engagements with each airline to recover the debts while trying to avoid disruption across the aviation sector.

The suspension followed consultations with aviation stakeholders, a step that marked a retreat from immediate enforcement but not from the underlying debt claims. NCAA’s message remained twofold: services would not be withheld for now, but the airlines still owed what the regulator said they owed.

The list of airlines shows how widely the issue touches domestic aviation. It spans large scheduled operators, including Air Peace Ltd., Ibom Air and United Nigeria Airlines, as well as Arik Air Ltd., NG Eagle, Max Air Limited, Overland Airways, Rano Air, ValueJet, Umza Air and Caverton Helicopters.

Public disagreement had already built around the attempted enforcement. One report cited total debts of around N12 billion, placing the dispute over unpaid charges in full view as NCAA moved to tighten collection.

Those figures fed a broader argument over how far the regulator should go in using access to services as a collection tool. NCAA answered that question first with the “no pay, no service” order, then with a temporary pause after discussions with stakeholders.

The policy itself remained intact. NCAA adopted the approach to deny regulatory and administrative services to indebted airlines that had not cleared outstanding statutory remittances or entered repayment plans, making continued access to those services conditional on settling or restructuring what was owed.

That left the immediate position clearer than the long-term outcome. The 11 airlines escaped enforcement for now, but the authority kept the debt issue open and said it would pursue recovery through structured engagement rather than immediate service denial.

Najomo’s wording also narrowed the room for interpretation inside the industry. By saying the pause “should not be interpreted as a cancellation, waiver, or forgiveness,” he signaled that the NCAA viewed the consultations as a temporary adjustment in enforcement, not a retreat from collection.

The episode placed the regulator’s balancing act in plain view. NCAA tried to press airlines over statutory charges while limiting turbulence in a sector where administrative approvals and oversight functions remain essential to daily operations.

Each part of the dispute turned on the same issue: whether airlines that remain indebted should continue receiving the full range of regulatory services while discussions continue. NCAA first answered no, then suspended that answer without abandoning the debt recovery effort behind it.

What emerged from the May 22 memo and Najomo’s remarks was a narrower, more cautious posture. The authority pulled back from immediate enforcement against the 11 named airlines, but it kept the “no pay, no service” policy on the books and maintained that the statutory charges still had to be settled.

Airlines now face a regulator that has paused one enforcement step while preserving the larger principle behind it. The debt dispute remains active, the list of affected carriers remains public, and NCAA’s position stands in Najomo’s words: the suspension “should not be interpreted as a cancellation, waiver, or forgiveness” of what the airlines owe.