The Nigeria Customs Service briefly grounded around 60 foreign-registered business jets at Lagos and Abuja airports in early June 2025 over unpaid import duties. The authorities released the aircraft on June 4, after their owners reportedly agreed to settle their dues within one month.
The aircraft are operated privately under permits for non-commercial flights (PNCFs), and the customs office did not release their identities or any other details. It did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.
The Nigeria Customs Service has been trying to force the owners of aircraft based in the country to re-register them locally since late 2024, arguing that by keeping them on foreign registers the owners are avoiding the due import tax. It warned the owners that it would ground the aircraft for the first time in October 2024, although no actions were then taken for more than half a year.
The ch-aviation Business Jet Aircraft Data module shows there are currently 73 business jets based in either Abuja or Lagos, of which 25 are registered in Nigeria. Those remaining are registered in the United States (25), San Marino (nine), the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man (five each), Austria, Canada, Mauritius, and Portugal (one each). The type portfolio spans from very light to ultra-long-range jets, but the most popular ones are Challenger 600-series aircraft (16 units).
