To douse the tension in the country’s aviation industry, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has disclosed that the five flight operators sanctioned over regulatory infractions include Air Peace and the Ethiopian Airlines.
Others sanctioned by the regulatory body were Arik Air, Aero Contractors, and Royal Air Maroc, a decision taken NCAA to ensure sanity in the sector.
The NCAA’s director of public affairs and consumer protection, Michael Achimugu, released the lists on Saturday while stating the the decision was for consumer protection-related infractions, and not for safety concerns.
Achimugu noted that the firm comprising two international and three domestic operators violated Part 19 of NCAA Regulations of 2023.
Achimugu said the airlines are fully aware of the regulatory process and their obligations.
“The fact that they are already coming out to publicly accept the sanctions shows that we have done the right thing,” he said.
He said Aero Contractors also acknowledged addressing seven out of the 11 infringements outlined in NCAA’s official letter.
Achimugu said Ethiopian Airlines also claimed to have resolved some of their reported cases, stressing that airlines are required to formally notify the NCAA once such cases are resolved.
“We have told them, if you resolve a case the NCAA brings to you, you are supposed to give us feedback. We are not witches, we can’t sit there in our offices and know you resolved a case,” he added.
“We wrote you officially, if you have resolved it, you write us back officially. It is even a crime in itself to not get back to us. It is also a crime for an airline not to respond to an official communication from the authority.
“So there are penalties for all of these things. And I have made it very clear that it will no longer be business as usual.
“For over 10 years, the consumer protection department of the NCAA has never sanctioned any airline and I don’t think that is right because that would mean that airlines have always been behaving well for all these years and that is not the truth.
“But I decided when I came into office to give them one year, also to give myself time to understand what the issues are.”
Achimugu, who acknowledged that many issues stem from external factors beyond the control of airlines, added that operators must take responsibility for the infractions they cause.
According to NCAA, the violations include failure to refund passengers within the stipulated time frame, non-responsiveness to authority’s directives, incidents of missing and manhandled luggage, short-landed baggage, and issues relating to flight delays and cancellations.
Meanwhile, the NCAA has commended Air Peace for accepting the enforcement actions and promising to adjust their operations towards conditions stipulated by the regulatory body.
In a statement, the authority said Allen Onyema, Air Peace’s chairman, acknowledged some of the infractions by his staff and pledged to ensure compliance with the NCAA’s directives, particularly regarding timely passenger refunds.
“I am glad that this has happened. I have warned my team. This shows that the NCAA know what they are doing. I will always acknowledge it where the fault is ours,” Onyema was quoted as saying.
The NCAA also disclosed that Ethiopian Airlines sought further engagement with the authority regarding the enforcement actions issued against it.
According to the authority, the international airline expressed readiness to comply with the NCAA’s regulations and pledged to submit a compliance report by the following day.
“This is the first time in over a decade that the NCAA Consumer Protection Department is initiating sanctions against airlines,” the statement reads.
Chris Najomo, the acting director-general of NCAA, who chaired the stakeholders’ meeting, advised operators to streamline their flight schedules to manageable levels to minimise disruptions.
He warned that the NCAA would adopt stricter enforcement measures against noncompliance, stressing that unruly passenger behaviour will also not be tolerated.
‘
