The intervention comes amid heightened passenger traffic and frequent flight disruptions during the end-of-year travel season, with the NCAA warning that airlines that fail to meet their obligations to passengers risk regulatory sanctions.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has taken enforcement action against three domestic airlines over what it described as poor passenger care and failure to comply with aviation regulations during flight delays.
Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, disclosed the development in a post on X on Tuesday, stating that his team “stormed the Abuja operations of three domestic airlines; Xejet, Rano Air, and United Nigeria Airline.”
According to Achimugu, the action followed concerns over how airlines handle flight disruptions, particularly during the busy December travel period.
“While we understand the unique challenges of December per flight disruptions, airlines MUST provide the necessary care for passengers at a time like this,” he said.
He accused airlines of routinely failing to communicate honestly with passengers and attempting to avoid their obligations under existing regulations.
“We have observed that most airlines do not provide timely, honest information, and that they try to evade the provision of light refreshments two hours into a delay, as stipulated by Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Achimugu said.
He described the situation as unacceptable, stressing that the regulator had issued a warning to the affected airlines and others in the sector.
“The NCAA finds this unacceptable as has given an ultimatum to the airlines (not limited to these 3). We are watching, and action will be taken where necessary,” he added.
The intervention comes amid heightened passenger traffic and frequent flight disruptions during the end-of-year travel season, with the NCAA warning that airlines that fail to meet their obligations to passengers risk regulatory sanctions.
Earlier this month, one-way airfare on some domestic routes jumped by about 150 per cent, crossing N300,000, as travellers now experience an astronomical rise in air ticket rates due to the high passenger volume associated with the Yuletide, among others.
Reports showed that the hike in airfares was particularly on the South-South and South-East routes. These routes have high patronage, as most domestic air movements during the festive period are to these areas.
Usually, during the Yuletide rush, airfares are raised due to the high demand for tickets. But this season, passengers say prices of air tickets are out of reach following various economic challenges. Operators told our correspondent that the shortage of aircraft further compounded the airfare hike.
Before the festive period, air tickets on domestic routes hovered around N120,000. But an analysis of domestic airfares on the websites of airlines showed that ticket costs, particularly to the South-South and South-East regions, have increased by about 150 per cent compared to what the prices were before the Yuletide.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate two weeks ago had also summoned the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, along with heads of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), over the sudden and steep increase in domestic flight ticket prices.