From Sola Ojo, Abuja
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Tuesday threatened to sanction unscrupulous airline operators engaged in deceitful departure time scheduling.
This followed the prevalent cases of deceitful departure time scheduling by some airline operators.
The Acting Director General, Civil Aviation, Nigeria, Capt. Chris Najomo who gave the warning on Tuesday at the Authority’s corporate headquarters in Abuja added that, the NCAA now runs a zero-tolerance approach to regulatory infractions.
Najomo who spoke through Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection in the Agency, Mr. Michael Achimugu, said he has been on top of ease of doing business in the aviation sector since he assumed office in acting capacity.
According to Michael, “In line with that action plan, he has made processes for licensing easy for operators. 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.
“So, if the NCAA is making doing business easier for operators, then it follows that the operators must satisfy the passengers too wth superior services.
“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 clear that the DGCA has directed monitoring and offenders will face serious regulatory actions” he said.
On the difficult refund processes by airlines, he said “all refunds by airlines must be done devoid of undue delays and the process should conclude in 14 working days regardless of the mode of purchase of the tickets”.