Airfare hike: NCAA, FCCPC begin investigation, stakeholders’ engagement

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), in collaboration with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has commenced investigations and stakeholders’ engagement into the recent increase in airfare by domestic airlines.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of the NCAA, said the investigation and engagement were to determine whether due and regulatory processes were followed before the increase.

Nuhu said the engagement would be to get proper information and place, adding that there were many challenges facing the industry. “We are going to start a meeting with stakeholders in the industry tomorrow starting with the airlines to get proper information. “Airfares are deregulated but there are certain processes of increasing those airfares and those processes have to be followed.

“Airlines are there to make money but not exploitatively of the traveling public. “What we want is to ensure that all the processes were complied with.“The industry is going through a difficult time and COVID-19 hit us so hard. We are just in the process of recovering.“Cost of fuel and foreign exchange are other things that have a significant impact on the operation of the industry. Mr Babatunde Irukera, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the FCCPC, said that neither FCCPC nor NCAA were pre-empting the rights of airlines as any other business to develop their financial modules and manage their revenues.