NIGERIA Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) , have concluded plans to impose a “No Fly List”, on unruly passengers who destroy operational facilities and attack airline personnel at airports across the country on account of delayed or canceled flights.
The authorities said as much they are not in support of airlines violating the rights of passengers, experiencing either delay or cancellation of their flights should be used as a license to carry out wanton destruction of airport facilities or invasion of the airside to disrupt aircraft movement.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum yesterday in Lagos, the Acting Director General of NCAA, Captain Chris Najomo and the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku frowned at unruly conduct of irate passengers, describing their behaviour as totally unacceptable.
They said the authorities will use the instrument of the law to keep such persons in check by ensuring that any passenger that puts up such unacceptable conduct is arrested , prosecuted and made to pay for the property destroyed.
They also frowned at the unruly behaviour of passengers who molest, attack and beat up airline personnel , saying efforts are underway to escalate appropriate punishment through magistrate and mobile courts to be set up at the airports to deal with the situation.
Najomo said, with the existing collaboration among the agencies, a revised operating procedure on airside access is being worked out to avoid passengers creating a stampede while trying to board aircraft at the tarmac.
Najomo said increasing reports bordering on delayed and cancelled flights and the attendant infractions by irate passengers is giving Nigeria a bad reputation as well as eroding the confidence in air travel.
To mitigate the situation, Najomo called on airlines to avail themselves of weather information provided by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) , for their schedule planning .
He said NCAA and FAAN and other agencies have agreed to extend operational period at ‘Sunset Airports ‘ to between 6.00am and 10.00pm to enable airlines take advantage of the facilities.
He frowned at the reluctance of airlines to pay ticket refunds to passengers within the statutorily approved time, affirming that failure to do so will amount to severe sanctions on the airlines.
He therefore mandated airlines yet to migrate to the NCAA ‘s Consumer Protection Complaints Portal to do so within the next 48 hours to avoid the big stick of the regulatory.
Najomo said complaints over delayed or cancelled flights have peaked in the last few days as the NCAA was inundated with telephone calls from the Presidency and National Assembly.
While urging airlines to scale up their act by either trimming their flights to meet up with the routes their aircraft could cater to, Najomo said the NCAA will not fold its arms to see the rights of passengers violated.
He disclosed that out of 10,804 flights operated in September and October 2024, 5,225 flights were delayed, and 190 were cancelled. He gave a further breakdown of the data to show that in September 2024, 5,291 domestic flights were operated with 2,434 delays and 79 cancellations.
In October 2024, 5513 flights were operated with 2,791 delays and 111 cancellations recorded.