The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has introduced stringent measures to further guide against passengers’ delayed luggage by airlines.
According to statistics from the NCAA, Air France had the highest number of missing baggage with 2,075 among foreign carriers flying into Nigeria.
This was followed by KLM with 1,938; Egypt air; 1,850; Royal Air Maroc, 1,745, British Airways, 1,428; Lufthansa; 1,535, Kenya Airways; 1,346; Delta Air Lines, 1,101.
Others were Qatar Airways; 980, Ethiopian Airlines, 545; Air Cote d’Ivoire; 424; Rwandair, 365; Asky; 290, South African Airways, 77; Air Peace, 49; Africa World Airlines; 35, Taag Angola, 31 and Middle East with only five missing luggage.
However, in compliance with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs), the regulatory agency is imposing fines of $170 and N10, 000 on foreign and local airlines, respectively for delayed passengers’ luggage as a first measure.
Also, the regulatory agency said that such delayed luggage must be delivered to the affected passenger on international routes within 21 days, while for local flights, it must be delivered within seven days.
Besides, an executive summary from NCAA, indicated that no fewer than 19,274 passengers’ luggage, across all airlines – foreign and local were declared delayed/missing in the first half of 2024.
The breakdown of the delayed/missing luggage showed that 18,955 passengers’ luggage were missing among the international airlines, while 319 were among the indigenous carriers.
The document however revealed that 17,365 luggage of international passengers were later recovered while the other 1,590 luggage remained unaccounted for, according to the executive summary.
For the domestic carriers, the entire 319 delayed/missing luggage were recovered and delivered to the affected passengers by the 13 domestic airline operators.
Speaking on Monday during a roadshow organised by NCAA, Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Michael Achimugu, assured that the regulatory agency would implement the sanctions to the letter.
Achimugu regretted that for a very long time, most of the air travellers were unaware of their rights, which made the airlines continue to violate their rights.
He explained that with the roadshow, more travelling public would be more aware of these rights and the appropriate quarters to complain to.
He said, “For way too long, Nigerians have been claiming not to know about the existence and the duties of the NCAA. Our duty, which is what we owe Nigerians, is to bring awareness to the industry.
The passengers need to become more aware of their rights so that airlines will not continue to cheat them.
“The little things about the regulations that the passengers need to know, for instance, if you arrive at an airport and your luggage didn’t arrive with you, most passengers do not know that they have a right to demand compensation from the airlines.
“If it is a domestic flight, you can walk to the airline’s counter to demand for your N10,000 for not bringing your bag with you. For international flights, it is $170 dollars. A lot of passengers do not know this thing, but today, we are bringing an end to that circle of ignorance. We are bringing the regulations to Nigerians in an exciting manner.”
On the recently launched Consumer Complaints Portal by NCAA, Achimugu stressed that the portal had swelled the number of complaints from passengers, despite the teething challenges it faced at present.
He explained that the portal had put the airlines on their toes, maintaining that the regulatory agency would very soon go to the public on the effort the airlines put in place to resolve the complaints.
Apart from Lagos, the director pointed out that the roadshow and stakeholders’ summit would also take place in Abuja and Port Harcourt airports.
To further address the challenges, he explained that the NCAA would on Tuesday in Lagos, hold a stakeholders’ summit, which would involve all industry players like Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), V.I.P travellers and aviation agencies.
