Following the intervention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Lufthansa German Airlines, KLM, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, Royal Air Maroc, RwandAir, and Turkish Airlines have all released all categories of low inventory tickets.
This followed the instruction by the Nigerian authorities to foreign airlines for the airlines to unconditionally unblock all lower inventory tickets to the Nigerian market after a meeting between both parties.
However, Air France has failed to comply with the directives, according to a statement signed by the Director General of the NCAA, Chris Najomo.
The intervention by the NCAA was in a move to halt the spiraling cost of air tickets in the country and make travelling affordable for Nigerians.
The NCAA Director General has set up a 10-man committee to look into the high cost of tickets in the country after a two-day high-level meeting held between NCAA and foreign airlines in Nigeria on the urgent need to unblock all low inventory tickets which were hitherto blocked for over 18 months.
The 10-man committee chaired by Director of Special Duties NCAA, Horatius Egua, is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the foreign airlines fully comply with the directives of the government to unblock all low inventory tickets as well as recommend appropriate pricing of tickets in Nigeria compared to similar markets in the West African sub-region.
Other members of the committee are Michael Achimugu, Director Public Affairs and Consumer Protection NCAA; Rotimi Arogunjo General Manager, Licensing and Statistics NCAA; Mrs. Ogechi Louis-Azode Deputy General Manager, Legal Services NCAA; Mrs. Susan Akporiaye President National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies; Mrs. Olaoluwa Oladipupo Assistant General Manager, Fairs and Tariffs NCAA; Mr. David-Ojuigo Assistant Director FCCPC; Mr. Yinka Folami incoming President NANTA; and Ms. Florence Abebe Chief Legal Officer FCCPC while Mrs. Ifueko Abdulmalik, Senior Special Assistant, DG NCAA is to serve as Secretary,
In the last several months, Nigerians have been made to pay higher fares on international flights unjustly as all the foreign airlines increased their flight tickets astronomically citing the high exchange rate as well as other sundry issues and also deliberately blocked low inventory tickets making travel unbearable for Nigerians.
“This is very discriminatory in nature. We cannot continue to pay higher fares compared to other countries in the sub-region that have similar distances, using the same operating aircraft. We have the market and in some cases we have more liberal taxes? This is unacceptable and we totally reject this,” Egua, who represented Najomo at the meeting held between February 12 and 13, 2024, in Abuja, said.
“For instance, a distance of six hours from Ghana to London may sometimes cost about $800 while a similar distance with similar operating aircraft cost over $2000 in Nigeria. This is discriminatory and an unfair practice and we reject this in totality,” he further stated.
