The National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), called on the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to stop foreign airlines from selling air tickets in foreign currencies, as reported by BusinessDay.
This is as the airlines in the Nigerian aviation industry have been told to comply with Part 19 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2023 in passenger compensation.
Participants at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Consumer Protection National Stakeholders’ Summit, held at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos on Tuesday, observed that some foreign airlines had continually violated the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) arrangements signed with Nigeria by selling air tickets in foreign currencies.
However, apart from the United States carriers, which had an Open Skies agreement with Nigeria that enables its carriers to sell tickets in dollars, other airlines are required to sell tickets in naira for flights emanating from the country.
But, over time, some of the foreign carriers had consistently violated this agreement with Nigeria, while no major punitive measures had been taken against them.
Speaking at the summit during the panel of discussants, a member of NANTA, observed that some international carriers were selling air tickets in foreign currencies in Nigeria.
This was further collaborated by Yinka Folami, President of NANTA. Folami in his comment, said that NANTA had already petitioned the NCAA on the violation, hoping that the regulatory agency would address the issue.
Also, Michael Achimugu, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, at NCAA, confirmed the submission of the letter by NANTA but said the issue would be addressed by the appropriate department.
Besides, airlines in the Nigerian aviation industry have been told to comply with Part 19 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2023 in passenger compensation.
