…NCAA promises swift action
By Chinelo Obogo
The National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) has demanded the release of N51 million, insisting that the funds, belonging to its members, are currently trapped in a domestic airline that recently collapsed.
NANTA’s national president, Olayinka Folami, told Daily Sun that the now-defunct airline operated a wallet system, where travel agents preloaded funds to issue flight tickets to passengers. However, when the airline ceased operations, these funds became trapped and inaccessible.
He lamented that many small business owners, who rely on selling airline tickets to sustain their livelihoods, are now enduring hardship with no solution in sight.
Folami said that NANTA filed complaints to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over the issue but there has been no satisfactory resolution.
“The airline in question ceased operations for a while but we still have members’ funds trapped in the system and at the last count, it was N51 million but I am sure that it is more. There is nowhere in this world that an agent would owe an airline because they take our guarantee and that is why I am talking about reciprocity in all policies. Any policy that applies to us should apply to the airlines because we bear the risks. The airline in question is now defunct an our funds are trapped and also that of the customers. We have written to the NCAA, we have compiled the list of those affected and the amount we are being owed. We have done everything we need to do but we have not had any positive feedback except what we heard at the summit recently that it is at the highest level and it is being discussed.
“We want a situation where our transaction with the airlines are secured just like theirs with ours are secured as well. We are business people and we need our money because N51 million is a huge sum, owed to small business owners who sell tickets for domestic airlines and make profits of N2,000 here and N3, 000 there. Travel agents put money in the wallets of this domestic airlines and they have not been able to get their money back for over six months. The airline has a wallet system from which travel agents issue flight tickets. How this works is that for instance, if a travel agent wants to issue a ticket of N150,000, the person has to have at least N200,000 in his or her wallet, so that there would be no need to use your debit card. All you need to do is to preload your wallet beforehand and when you want to issue a ticket, you just make payment directly from your wallet. Most of the funds trapped in this particular airline are funds that travel agents used in loading their wallets, “he said.
Folami further stated that the NCAA had suggested another domestic airline would be responsible for refunding affected agents and customers of the defunct airline. However, when NANTA members approached this new operator, they were informed that the airline would not assume liability for the collapsed carrier.
“There was a publication where the NCAA was reported to have said that one of the operational domestic airlines that entered into some kind of business arrangement with the defunct airline would be the one to refund customers’ and travel agents’ monies that are trapped. But some of our members who approached this airline to make enquiries were told that they are not responsible for that,” Folami said.
While responding to the issue during a summit held at the NCAA’s Lagos office recently, the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mike Achimugu, said the NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation were working on finding a lasting resolution and that the issue is currently being discussed at the highest level of government.