By Friday Ajagunna

Copyright newmail-ng

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has accused Qatar Airways of violating consumer protection regulations and treating Nigerian passengers with contempt.

In a post on X on Friday, Michael Achimugu, the NCAA’s director of public affairs and consumer protection, said the airline has repeatedly failed to comply with passenger rights obligations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.

He warned that stiff sanctions would be imposed on the airline and others who continue to disregard aviation laws.

Achimugu referenced a case involving a Nigerian passenger who was arrested and detained in Doha for 18 hours following an allegation of harassment by a cabin crew member.

“The airline @qatarairways has carried on as though Nigerian passengers and the NCAA are not deserving of their respect, dignified treatment, and compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023. This will be brought to a stop immediately,” the post reads.

“A member of this airline’s cabin crew claimed that, while she was wheeling a passenger during boarding for a flight from Lagos to the US via Doha, a male passenger who was travelling with his wife had touched her butt.

“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 eighteen 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 also accused the airline’s country manager of avoiding NCAA meetings, resorting to delegating subordinates instead.

The NCAA official said Qatar Airways has failed to comply with determinations made by the regulator on the incident.

“They have also failed to treat subsequent complaints from other passengers escalated to them by the CAA, including a total silence upon receipt of a letter of investigation (LOI) sent to them by the NCAA. This behaviour stops now,” he said.

Achimugu stressed that the agency will not allow any airline to treat Nigeria’s aviation laws with contempt while respecting regulations in Europe and other jurisdictions.

“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,” the director said.

“When BASAs are signed, they must be respected by both parties. Every airline is expected to, upon approval to operate in Nigeria, understand and comply with consumer protection regulations.

“To continue to treat our laws with contempt while respecting regulations across Europe and elsewhere is not ideal and must be brought to a complete and final stop.”

He said the authority protects both passengers and airlines, noting that Chris Najomo, the NCAA’s director-general, has been consistent about enforcing consumer protection.

“We will apply appropriate and stiff penalties against the airlines that, in perpetuity, fail to comply,” he added.

Achimugu also disclosed that Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Air have been cautioned over certain infractions and risk heavy sanctions if they fail to comply with the authority’s determinations.