Aviation experts in Nigeria have disagreed over the proposed establishment of an Aviation Development Bank, with some arguing that specialised financing is necessary while others say a new institution would not resolve the sector’s underlying financial and operational problems.

Speaking in separate interviews with The Guardian yesterday in Lagos, the experts offered contrasting views on whether a dedicated financing institution would address the industry’s longstanding capital constraints.

The Chief Executive Officer of Merchant Express Cargo Airlines, Samuel Caulcrick, backed the proposal, arguing that Nigeria needed a dedicated aviation financing architecture.

Caulcrick dismissed the argument that an aviation development bank should not be established because such an institution had not previously existed.

He said innovation involved creating institutions capable of addressing problems that existing structures had failed to solve.

According to him, conventional commercial banks were not designed to finance aviation’s long-term, dollar-denominated assets.

He cited the African Development Bank’s Integrated Aviation Transformation Programme, launched in February 2026, as evidence of growing institutional recognition of specialised aviation financing.

Caulcrick said Nigeria could build on such initiatives by establishing a domestic financing structure capable of supporting aircraft acquisition, maintenance, training, fuel procurement and other aviation needs.

He also advocated the aggregation of industry cash flows, arguing that pooling aviation-related revenues and charges could improve the sector’s capacity to attract long-term capital.

However, the Chief Executive Officer of Palewater Advisory Group Africa, Alex Nwuba, warned that establishing an aviation bank would not automatically create cheaper funding or eliminate the fundamental risks confronting Nigerian airlines.

He argued that such an institution would still have to source funds and either lend at market rates or subsidise its loans, with the cost ultimately borne by someone.

Nwuba also questioned the reliance on debt to finance airlines whose revenues are predominantly in naira while major obligations, including aircraft leases, are dollar-denominated.

He urged the industry to focus instead on operational performance, financial discipline and reliable industry data.

Nwuba said discrepancies in industry data should be resolved and agreed performance benchmarks established before creating new financing institutions.

“Such an institution does not manufacture money. It must source lendable funds and price them above what it paid, and lendable funds here do not come at single digits,” he said.

“It either on-lends at market cost to another expensive lender with an aviation nameplate, or below cost, in which case somebody is paying the difference and we should call it a subsidy and debate it honestly.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Aviation Security Services Ltd, John Ojikutu, also opposed the proposal, urging stakeholders to first examine the outcome of previous government interventions in the sector.

Ojikutu questioned what happened to past aviation intervention funds and warned against repeating a model that could result in unrecovered loans.

Instead, he called for stricter enforcement of economic and financial regulations, credible airline business plans, adequate fleet and route requirements, improved airport infrastructure and differentiated airport charges based on available services and traffic.