Aviation Minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah reads the riot acts to foreign airlines operating in the country over discriminatory practices, unfair and uncompetitive acts against Nigerian passengers.
AVIATION Minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah, has warned foreign airlines operating in the country to desist from discriminatory practices against Nigerian passengers.
She said the Federal Government would no longer tolerate such ‘unfair, deceptive and uncompetitive acts.’
The minister, who read the riot act during an interactive forum with representatives of the airlines in her office on Tuesday, lamented that the industry was riddled with unfair and deceptive practices that violate Nigerian and international laws. She said Nigeria demands that in exchange for the ness it provides to airlines and its hospitality, it must be treated fairly and equitably, according to international best practices.
She emphasised that the operators must deliver the kind of attention, care and services commensurate with the yield Nigerian passengers generate for the airlines.
Said the minister: ‘Nigerian market remains open for exploration, but will be permanently closed to exploitation,’ adding that going forward, ‘we will ensure that operators must exhibit respect for our nation, its officials, agencies and people.’
The minister listed some of the practices to include promotions that do not exist and published fares that can never be secured by passengers, including all kinds of advertisements in the media without the mandatory scrutiny and approval from the NCAA, as well as all kinds of surcharges that are loaded onto ticket prices that are illegitimate.
‘These surcharges have absolutely no basis or justifiable reasons to be imposed, maintained or increased. We are currently investigating fuel surcharges and there will be very serious penalties for those found to have used them inappropriately", the Minister observed.
She added that surcharges are also a way to cheat the Federal Government and local businesses in Nigeria since they are non-taxable, saying they have been used to load up the cost of travel outside the base fares. She condemned the situation whereby most operators try to avoid statutorily mandated TSC and the agents denied the rightful commission ‘when in fact, those surcharges are alternative fare increases.’
The minister said the unfair practices include imposition of outlandish and discriminatory fares from what obtains abroad, lamenting that most airlines have in excess of 20-25 fare classes while only a fraction of such are available in Nigeria.
Others are promotions that obtain abroad but non-existent in Nigeria, as well as very poor on-board services.
She said the Nigerian market is one of the largest in Africa courtesy of the high population and passenger traffic, stressing that the Nigerian passenger, therefore, deserves equivalent service to what his/her foreign counterpart enjoys. She said the service offered air passengers in Nigeria must improve henceforth, even as she stressed the need for collaboration and partnership between the operators and the regulatory bodies.
Corroborating the position of the minister, D-G of the NCAA, Harold Demuren, said some foreign airlines block seats on cheaper fares and force Nigerians to buy higher ticket fares by the exploitative cartel. He said the quality of service on the Nigerian segment of trips is so poor compared to other segments, including cabin and crew members, who have no respect for Nigerian passengers.
He added that the condition of service for Nigerian employees is materially different from non-Nigerians, including bringing non-qualified people to senior positions instead of training available Nigerians for such positions.
Representative of some of the airlines, including, Kola Adeyinka (British Airways), Paulos Legesse (Emirates) and others who spoke pledged to improve their services, even as they vehemently denied discriminating against Nigerian passengers.
They, however, appealed to the ministry to improve facilities and infrastructure at the nation’s airports to boost customer service and satisfaction.
It was further agreed that a score card of all the foreign airlines would be carried out and published not only to encourage them to improve their services, but also to publicly tell Nigerian travellers which airlines services are up to standard to help them make informed choices when travelling abroad.
Representatives of most foreign airlines, including BA, Lufthansa, Emirates, Egypt Air, United Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta Airlines, Iberia Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Qatar Airways, Arik Air, Air France/KLM, IATA, Kenya Airways, Turkish Airways attended the forum.
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