Airlines Sanctioned Over Consumer Protection Infractions, Not Safety Concerns – NCAA
By Stella Enenche, Abuja
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), has said the sanctions recently initiated against five airlines were for consumer protection-related infractions, and not for safety concerns.
The Authority’s Director of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, Michael Achimugu, made the clarification in a statement on Saturday.
TheFactDaily recalled that NCAA had warned that any airline who delays the payment of refunds to passengers within the stipulated time frame in Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023, will be sanctioned.
A week later, authority announced that it had initiated enforcement action against Royal Air Maroc, Ethiopian Airways, Air Peace, Arik Air, and Aero Contractors.
Furthermore, the Acting Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo called an emergency stakeholder meeting to find lasting solutions to flight delays and cancellations, where he advised operators to trim their operations according to the number of aircraft they have and to treat consumer complaints with the desired urgency.
Reacting to the announcement, Chairman of Air Peace,, Allen Onyema said he had noticed that some of his finance staff actually delayed some of those payments and he was not happy about it as his vision does not align with any practice that inconveniences his passengers.
He accepted the NCAA’s enforcement action and said that the airline would improve its response time to such complaints.
However, Mr. Achimugu, he said, “Even the DGCA publicly announced at a stakeholders meeting in Lagos, the names of the airlines, and the reasons for the enforcement actions. My department is strictly for consumer protection issues, not technical matters. So why would anyone think that i can sanction an airline for safety reasons?”
“It is important to note that we do not sensationalise serious issues. The department protects both the operators and passengers and will continue to be an unbiased umpire,” he concluded.
