Acting Director General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo, has called on airlines to improve on their services and curtail incessant flight delays and cancellations.
The DG described current record of flight disruptions, poor customer experience and poor handling of passengers as unacceptable, and said the situation must change for good.
He urged airlines to rejig their flight schedules based on the number of their serviceable aircraft.
He said: “Airlines must consider scheduling flights into sunset airports early in the day to minimise cancellations as a result of airport closure at sunset.”
The NCAA chief stressed that the agency would ensure that airlines fulfill their obligations to passengers or face sanctions.
“Airlines must handle persons with reduced mobility properly, with dignity and without discrimination as airlines are mandated to provide facilities for the movement of persons with reduced mobility and by the provisions of Nigeria Civil aviation regulations part 19, airlines are required to provide on their ticket portal a mandatory field for special needs assistance and require their agents to actively ask customers during ticket purchase if they will require assistance.
“It is no longer business as usual as errant airlines will be sanctioned, appropriately, without fear or favour,” he said, noting that the authority has stepped up its surveillance to monitor compliance to fish out violators.
Speaking in the same vein, the Director of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, Michael Achimugu, stressed that the authority would not relent in its commitment to ensuring pleasurable travel experience and comfort for air transport passengers, hinting that the airlines present were committed to work on all issues raised and make adjustments where necessary.
Concerns raised by some airlines, including poor airport facilities, single standby generator at the General Aviation Terminal in Lagos, frequent bird strikes, and bush burning in Port Harcourt’s congested boarding gates, were addressed by the Director of Airport Operations (FAAN), who said his agency had observed incidents of bird strikes during grass cutting at the airports and that FAAN was working to minimise bird strike incidents.
He further stated that FAAN was also looking into issues that concern airport facilities to find immediate solutions to ease passenger and baggage flow at the airport, which has begun as evident at some terminal.
A paper presented by Mrs. Ifueko Abdulmalik, AGM Flight Operations & Adjudication, on the provisions of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023 Part 19, dwelt on airline obligations to passengers in events of flight delays, cancellations, schedule changes, baggage delays and loss.
She disclosed that 53 per cent of total flights operated in Nigeria in 2023 were delayed and one per cent cancelled and that it was imperative to have the session to inform the airlines of the provisions of the regulations and applicable sanctions.
