The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has imposed a N5 million fine on Qatar Airways over consumer protection-related infractions.

The Director, Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, Michael Achimugu, who disclosed this on his X handle, said letters of investigation (LOI) have also been sent to the airline over other cases that might lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily.

The infraction followed an incident involving a member of the airline’s cabin crew who claimed that, while she was wheeling a passenger during boarding for a flight from Lagos to the United States of America via Doha, a male passenger who was travelling with his wife had touched her indecently.

“She did not report this incident in Lagos. On arrival in Doha, she made an allegation against this passenger, leading to his arrest and detention for about 18 hours. During the period, his wife suffered mental, physical, and psychological trauma without any form of care. She wondered how her husband could have committed such a despicable infraction, given that she was with him throughout the boarding process.

“The authorities in Doha made the man pay a hefty fine and forced him to sign a document written only in Arabic! Desperate for freedom to proceed on his journey to the US, the passenger signed a document whose contents he did not understand.

“Despite this, the airline refused to fly him to his final destination. He had to buy tickets on another airline and proceed at great financial and reputational cost.”

Achimugu said that upon invitation by the NCAA, the airline’s country manager, who has a penchant for evading meetings with the NCAA, only sent his subordinates to attend. However, the NCAA decided on that matter along with others.

He said: “As has become typical of @qatarairways, they failed to comply with all determinations made from that meeting. They have also failed to treat subsequent complaints from other passengers escalated to them by the NCAA, including a total silence upon receipt of a letter of investigation (LOI) sent to them by the NCAA.”

He lamented that the airline had carried on as though Nigerian passengers and the NCAA were not deserving of their respect, dignified treatment, and compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.

While stating that the behaviour must stop now, Achimugu said: “I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.”

“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for any airline not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023”.

In the same vein, the authority also issued a stern warning to Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Air, which have also been advised about certain infractions and, failing to comply with the determinations of the NCAA, saying they will be sanctioned heavily.