Foreign Airlines Stubbornly Renege To Provide Low Air Fare Inventory
3 min read
Barrister Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development
*** Nigerians have been assured that the NCAA will do its best to protect their interests.
*** All the foreign airlines have increased their flight Tickets astronomically, citing the high exchange rate as well as other sundry issues and also deliberately blocked low inventory tickets making travel
unbearable for Nigerians.
*** None of the foreign airlines has reflected market realities in their ticket pricing as earlier jointly
agreed.
*** A distance of six hours from Ghana may sometimes cost about 800USD, while similar distances with similar operating aircraft cost over 2000USD in Nigeria. This is discriminatory and unfair practice and we reject this in totality-: NCAA
Foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have in unison, willfully exhibited audacious business conduct while playing the Ostrich in the matter of making available for Nigerian travellers low air-fare inventory.
A cursory observation has also established that the foreign airlines stubbornly maintain a selfish interest with an uncanny obstinacy by their disdain to implement in toto, a gentlemanly agreement reached with Nigeria CAA to make available without delay, low-cost air-fare inventory in cognizance with the market realities.
Albeit, the nation’s air transport regulatory authority, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has reassured Nigerians that it will not relent on its oars in protecting the best interest of Nigerian travellers by ensuring exploitative fares are not Imposed on Nigerians any further.
A media statement issued by the Nigeria CAA, and signed by its Director General Civil Aviation, DGCA, Capt. Chris Najomo, highlighted decisions reached at a well-attended parley in its head office Abuja, a fortnight ago.
According to the media statement, “One of the key resolutions at the end of the meeting between the NCAA, Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission, FCCPC, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, NANTA, and the Board of Foreign Airlines Representative, BAR, was for the reduction in the cost of tickets and for the airlines to unconditionally unblock all lower inventory tickets to the Nigerian market”.
In the passing hours, days, and weeks, after the agreement, NCAA observed thus, “Following the instruction of the Authority, Lufthansa German Airlines, KLM, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, Royal Air Maroc, RwandAir, and Turkish Airlines have all released all categories of low inventory tickets while sadly, Air France failed to comply with the directives”, the statement noted.
The last straw seemingly to have broken the camel’s back was that these airlines ostensibly played the Ostrich with the regulatory authority by a sly.
However, the media statement sadly announced the authority’s surprise discovery that, “none of the foreign airlines has reflected market reality fares in their ticket pricing as earlier directed” and agreed.
The media statement seemingly placed the hope of getting travelling Nigerians out of the stranglehold of foreign airlines in the hands of the 10-man committee constituted at the fateful parley.
According to the media statement, “the 10-man committee is chaired by the Director of Special Duties, NCAA, Mr Horatius Egua, (who presided at the meeting), other members are, Mr Michael Achimugu, Director Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA; Mr Rotimi Arogunjo, General Manager, (GM), Licensing and Statistics, NCAA; Mrs Ogechi Louis-Azode, Deputy General Manager, (DGM), Legal Services NCAA; Mrs Susan Akporiaye, President, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, (NANTA); Mrs. Olaoluwa Oladipupo, Assistant General Manager, (AGM), Fares and Tariffs, NCAA; Mr. David-Ojuigo, Asst. Director, FCCPC; Mr Yinka Folami, incoming President, NANTA; and Ms Florence Abebe, Chief Legal Officer, FCCPC, while Mrs. Ifueko Abdulmalik, Senior Special Assistant, (SSA) to DGCA, NCAA, is to serve as Secretary.
The meeting saddled the committee with the task of, “ensuring that the foreign airlines fully comply with the directives of the government to unblock all low inventory tickets as well as recommend appropriate pricing of tickets in Nigeria, compared to similar markets in the West African sub-region”.
To industry players, the mandate of the committee is among other things, to come up with an acceptable modality that will appropriately address the present scenario whereby “a distance of six hours flight from Ghana to London may sometimes cost about 800USD, while similar distance with similar operating aircraft cost over 2000USD in Nigeria.”
The Nigeria CAA described such fare as “discriminatory and an unfair practice”, and demanded it must be severally and collectively rejected in its entirety.
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