Dare Babalola
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced its intention to impose stiff penalties on Qatar Airways due to the airline’s alleged failure to comply with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023 and its treatment of Nigerian passengers.
According to Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at NCAA, the airline has consistently disregarded NCAA’s determinations and failed to respond to complaints from passengers.
A recent incident involving a Nigerian passenger, who was allegedly assaulted by a cabin crew member and subsequently detained in Doha, has highlighted the airline’s disregard for regulatory compliance.
The passenger was forced to sign a document written in Arabic without understanding its contents and was eventually made to pay a hefty fine. Despite this, Qatar Airways refused to allow him to continue his journey, leading to significant financial and reputational losses.
In a statement by Achimugu on Friday, the NCAA has emphasised that it will no longer tolerate airlines’ failure to comply with its regulations.
Achimugu stated that the authority protects both airlines and passengers, and it will apply appropriate penalties against airlines that fail to comply with consumer protection regulations.
The NCAA has also warned other airlines, including Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Air, about certain infractions and will sanction them heavily if they fail to comply.
The statement read partly, “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.”
He narrated what transpired recently saying, “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 which 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.”
Achimuhu added, “Upon invitation by the NCAA, the airline’s country manager, who has a penchant for evading meetings with the NCAA, only sent his subordinates to attend. However, the NCAA made a determination on that matter along with others. As has become typical of @qatarairways, they failed to comply with all determinations made from that meeting. 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.”
“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 warned.
