Reprieve As Foreign Airlines Heed NCAA Directive, Open Cheaper Tickets

Following complaints of high tickets airfare for international trips, the major foreign airlines have heeded the directive of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to open their lower inventory tickets that they had hitherto blocked for months.

Recall that Nigerians were made to pay higher fares on international flights as only the higher inventory tickets were opened in Nigeria while the lower inventory tickets were blocked for months now.

The NCAA had expressed displeasure over the discriminatory practices against Nigerian travellers and convened a three-day meeting with the foreign airlines operating in Nigeria.

The meeting had in attendance representatives from the NCAA, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), with a presentation from The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on behalf of foreign airlines.

At the meeting, chaired by the director of Special Duties, NCAA, Horatius Egua, on behalf of the director general, Civil Aviation, Nigeria (DGCA), Capt. Chris Najomo, he charged all the foreign airlines to reduce their ticket cost and unblock all lower inventory tickets to the Nigerian travelling public in two days.

The NCAA considered the fare charged in Nigeria as discriminatory compared to the regional flights of the same airlines.

Following the CAA’s directive, the majority of the international airlines have unblocked the lower inventory tickets.

The following airlines have unblocked their lower inventory tickets; Lufthansa, KLM, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, Royal Air Mar, RwandAir, and Turkish Airlines.