THE RIGHTS OF DOMESTIC AIR TRAVELLERS
Airlines should operate within the rules and regulations
We fail to understand why domestic airlines in the country find it difficult to serve passengers refreshment whenever their flights are delayed for hours. More concerning is that refunding passengers their money is an extremely hard decision for the domestic airlines. Even in instances when airlines refund passengers after a long process, they still make all kinds of deductions from already in-built charges. Meanwhile, in some jurisdictions, airlines are now required to give passengers a cash refund if their flight is significantly delayed or cancelled, even if that person does not explicitly ask for a refund. That all domestic airlines behave in the same manner suggests a systemic problem.
We therefore endorse the recent position by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), chiding domestic airlines on their seeming reluctance to refund passengers money who did not eventually travel with the assigned flight. The NCAA has insisted that airlines must abide by the regulation, as enshrined in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulation (NCAR) 2023 as amended. The agency has also reiterated that airlines must adhere to the strict timelines stipulated in Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations, which aim to safeguard passenger rights. According to the regulatory authority, tickets purchased in cash must be refunded to the passenger immediately, while electronic payments, including mobile apps and internet banking, must occur within 14 days.
The intervention is particularly important during this holiday season when many people will be travelling for Christmas considering the cynical manner operators treat customers, especially regarding frequent delay of flights and sometimes, outright cancelation. A passenger on scheduled travel anywhere in the country at a particular time is never sure when the flight would take off or if they would embark on the journey at all. This disorganises business plans, appointments and other engagements while giving rise to inconvenience and frustration. This situation, which has gone on for years, cannot be allowed to continue.
We are aware that some delays are caused by bad weather, and the airlines cannot be blamed for this. But many of the times, there is no rational explanation for the delay and cancellations leading to suspicion that they are deliberate, most often to take in more passengers. There is also the notorious ‘VIP movement’ which is now frequent. The authorities must deal with this nuisance. Another cause of delay is poor infrastructure at the airports. Passengers spend unduly longer time at security screening points because of inadequate number of X-ray machines as many passengers often queue at security screening points, especially at peak hours.
Ideally, it should take no more than 30 seconds to screen a passenger but in Nigeria it can take up to two minutes with the screening officials more interested in extortion than doing their job. This poses a problem for the airlines. On the issue of refund, the NCAA promises that henceforth it would strictly enforce the rules when airlines negate their responsibility towards passengers and would sanction erring airlines that fail to abide by the regulations.
Passengers need to be guided by the regulatory authority on their rights and processes that should be followed while requesting a refund. Deploying subterfuge to deny aggrieved passengers refund for their ticket is wrong and we urge the NCAA to come down hard on these unwholesome practices.
