The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has warned that it would not hesitate to sanction airline operators engaged in deceitful departure time scheduling.
Its Acting Director General, Capt. Chris Najomo stated this on Tuesday in Abuja following the prevalent cases of deceitful departure time scheduling by the airlines.
Against this background, the agency warned the airlines to desist from the infraction or face dire regulatory actions.
Speaking through the NCAA Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr. Michael Achimugu, Najomo said since he assumed office, he has made processes for licensing easy for operators.
He said if the NCAA was making doing business easier for operators, then it follows that the operators must satisfy the passengers too with superior services.
Najomo stated;: “The time to secure AOC is now shorter and less cumbersome than it used to be in the past. The NCAA therefore expects reciprocity from airlines. Chief of which is world-class services to passengers.”
“It has come to our notice that some airlines are being reported for advertising deceitful departure times. The NCAA regulation says no airline shall display deceitful passenger departure time at its counter, advert material, or on its website.
“We want to make it very clear that the DGCA has directed monitoring and offenders will face serious regulatory actions.”
Najomo noted that the agency believes in safety, discipline, and economic regulation which is evidenced in the recent suspension of 10 PNCF holders for failing to comply with the recertification advisory issued in April 2024.
He indicated that while the NCAA supports airlines to be profitable because of their critical value to the economy, it is important passengers are treated fairly.
Najomo, however, assured that the agency would continue to improve in the area of ease of doing business.
He added: “This is evident in our high score on the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC) ranking. Recently our sister agency scored 96 percent but the NCAA scored 98.5 percent which is an extremely high score. This is building from the commendable score of 71.04 the NCAA scored during this year’s ICAO Security Audit” he said.
“The numbers are improving and we will continue to do what we can to make the industry safer, and more secure for passengers and stakeholders” he assured.
