Passengers’ Complaints Drop At Nigerian Airports In Six Months

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said it received a total of 144 complaints from both domestic and international air passengers between January and June 2017.

This is contained in a document obtained on Wednesday from the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) of the NCAA in Lagos.

The figure is a sharp decline from the 2,133 complaints received by the regulatory authority in the first half of 2016.

The document indicated that some of the complaints by the passengers included overbooking, denied boarding, pilferage and discourtesy by airline employees.

It said 126 complaints were received from passengers flying international routes while only 18 were received from passengers on domestic routes.

According to the document, 49 of the cases were successfully resolved with compensation paid by airlines to the affected passengers during the period under review.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARS 2015 Part 19) prescribes minimum rights for air travellers.

Mr Sam Adurogboye, General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, advised passengers not to take laws into their hands when they encounter operational hiccups, but lodge their complain through proper channel.

He said: “it is on record that the CPD has handled and resolved several cases from aggrieved passengers.

“Therefore, the authority expects aggrieved passengers to recourse to the platform provided by the NCAA to file their complaints and seek redress or compensation as the case may be.’’