The Senate has ordered the German national carrier, Lufthansa Airline to pay N2.19 billion, being the amount of royalty accrued to the federal government from its flight operations from 2009 to October 2011.

Chairman Senate committee on aviation, Senator Hope Uzodima gave the directive at a meeting between the committee and aviation professionals.

The committee at the meeting, learnt that Lufthansa was flying 14 frequencies to the country instead of four passenger and three cargo flights allowed by the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).

Director of Air Transport in the Ministry of Aviation, Mr. Hassan Musa told the committee that he wrote the Minister of Aviation to advise the government to cancel the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) since Nigeria was not deriving any benefit as agreed.

Members of the committee expressed concern that the MOU signed with Lufthansa in 2008 in which it agrees to train Nigerian pilots and provide equipment at the airports was jettisoned by the airline.

Foreign airlines came under fire last month for the difference of air fares between Nigeria and other African countries.