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NCAA moves against Passenger Rights abuses by Airlines

By on March 19, 2012

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) is planning to introduce a passengers’ bill of rights in line with the requirements of the global aviation regulator-International Civil Aviation Organisation) ICAO, investigations have revealed.

The measure is aimed at checking rights violations by domestic and foreign carriers, arising from incessant delays and cancellations of flight resulting in loss of passenger baggage.

The domestic carriers  are  jittery over the implementation of the new aviation law that is expected to checkmate gross violation of passengers’ rights over the years.

The bill of rights, which is being packaged by the NCAA, comes on the heels of parlous service delivery by airlines and aeronautical service providers including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency  (NAMA), and ground handling firms, which have combined to short change Nigerian passengers.

The new law, a source hinted, is already provoking disquiet and palpable anxiety among domestic carriers, which is expected to empower the NCAA to sanction airlines which have reported to it by passengers for all categories of rights violation.

Chief among the rights violation that the bill of rights will address is the incessant flight delays and cancellations carried out without adequate notification and compensation in line with internationally prescribed regulations by the International Civil Aviation Organisation ( ICAO) and International Air Transport Association ( IATA).

Confirming the development, the Director-General of NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren, affirmed that plans have reached an advanced stage to deliver what he described as a watershed in the aviation sector, where the rights of passengers can no longer be violated by airlines.

Demuren explained that the NCAA is seeking industry input in the final stage of drafting the bill, before the primary aviation law could be gazetted by the Federal Government to give it teeth to bite errant airline operators and other service providers.