The Federal Government has reintroduced the $300 levy on offshore helicopter landings, this time assigning the payment responsibility to oil companies instead of helicopter operators.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, announced the policy shift during an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday.

Keyamo noted that helicopter operators initially opposed the $300 offshore landing levy but agreed to its enforcement after productive discussions and the government shifting the payment responsibility to oil companies.

The operators insisted that they should not be responsible for the levy since they lease their helicopters to oil companies.

They warned that covering the fee themselves would lead to higher charter rates, which would ultimately affect the oil companies that hire their services.

“The airline operators that protested were part of that committee. So I told them, unless you reach an agreement with the airline operators, I will not go on with this. So the airline operators went into dialogue with them.

“And they did agree at the end of the day. Airline operators have agreed and signed. I have the document agreeing to the fee,” Keyamo stated.

“But they (helicopter by operators) said, they will not be the ones paying. Because they rent their helicopters out to oil companies. If you pass it on to them, they have to increase their charter fee. So now, the last vestige of this is now the oil companies.”

The Aviation Minister, however, disclosed that oil companies have also objected to bearing the levy, prompting him to set up a committee to review and resolve their concerns.

Keyamo further explained that the offshore helicopter landing levy was originally introduced before his tenure, based on agreements signed by the previous administration.