The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, has set up a 10-man Committee to look into the high cost of tickets in the country.
This, he noted, was part of move to halt the spiraling cost of air tickets in the country and make travelling affordable for Nigerians.
Najomo said the committee was coming on the heels of 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.
He disclosed that following the instruction of the 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 while Air France has failed to comply with the directives.
The director-general in a statement issued Thursday stressed that none of the foreign airlines has reflected market reality fares in their ticket pricing as earlier directed.
He opined that 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, Najomo lamented was very discriminatory in nature.
He said: “We cannot continue to pay higher fares compared to other countries in the sub-region that have similar distances, using same operating aircraft.
“We have the market and in some cases we have more liberal taxes. This is unacceptable and we totally reject this.
“For instance, a distance of six hours from Ghana to London may sometimes cost about $800 while similar distance with similar operating aircraft cost over $2000 in Nigeria. This is discriminatory and an unfair practice and we reject this in totality.”
The 10-man committee chaired by Director of Special Duties, NCAA, Mr. Horatius Egua, was 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: Mr. Michael Achimugu, Director Public Affairs and Consumer Protection NCAA; Mr. 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 (NANTA).
Also included are: Mrs. Olaoluwa Oladipupo, Assistant General Manager, Fairs and Tariffs NCAA; Mr. David-Ojuigo Asst. Director FCCPC; Mr. Yinka Folami, incoming President NANTA; and Ms. Florence Abebe, Chief Legal Officer FCCPC while Mrs. Ifueko Abdulmalik, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) DG NCAA is to serve as Secretary.