Discrimination against Nigerian passengers will not be tolerated any more
Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah has warned foreign airlines operating in the country to desist, forthwith from all forms of discriminatory practices against Nigerian passengers. She pointedly warned that such unfair, deceptive and uncompetitive acts will no longer be tolerated by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Minister, read the riot act during an interactive forum with representatives of the airlines in her office on Friday.
The Minister lamented that the aviation industry in Nigeria is riddled with all kinds of unfair and deceptive practices that violate Nigerian and International law, stressing that all these must stop now.
The Minister listed some of the deceptive practices to include promotions that do not exist and published fares that can never be secured by passengers, 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 who are found to have used them inappropriately”, the Minister declared.
She further 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.
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.
The Minister said Nigeria demands that in exchange for the continuing profitable business environment provided to airlines and its hospitality, Nigerians must be treated fairly and equitably according to international best practices.
She emphasized that the Operators must deliver the kind of attention, care and services commensurate to the yield Nigerian passengers generate for the airlines.
Princess Stella Oduah said the “Nigerian market remains open for exploration but will be permanently closed to exploitation”. She said that going forward, “we will ensure that Operators must exhibit respect for our nation, its officials, agencies and people”.
She condemned the situation whereby most operators tried to avoid statutorily mandated 5% Ticket Sales Tax and the agents denied the rightful commission “when in fact, those surcharges are alternative fare increases”.
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, DG 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 other crew members who have no respect for Nigerian passengers.
He added that the condition of service for Nigerian employees was different from non-Nigerians, including bringing non-qualified people to senior positions instead of training available Nigerians for such positions.
He said the federal government is now focusing on consumer protection, adding that there are several regulations which require a lot more reporting and better services and treatment of Nigerians.
Representative of some of the airlines, including, Kola Adeyinka (British Airways), Paulos Legesse (Emirates) and others who spoke pledged to improve their services.
They however said they do not discriminate against Nigerian passengers and also appealed to the ministry to improve facilities and infrastructures at the nation’s airports to boost customer service and satisfaction.
