The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a stern warning to Qatar Airways, accusing the airline of showing disregard for Nigerian passengers and regulatory compliance.
In a strongly worded statement by Mike Achimugu, the spokesperson of the NCAA said: "The airline, Qatar Airways, has carried on as though Nigerian passengers and the NCAA are not deserving of their respect, dignified treatment, and compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023. This will be brought to a stop immediately."
The authority cited a recent incident in which "a member of this airline's cabin crew claimed that, while she was wheeling a passenger during boarding for a flight from Lagos to the US via Doha, a male passenger who was travelling with his wife had touched her butt."
According to the NCAA, the alleged victim did not report the matter in Lagos but later filed a complaint upon arrival in Doha.
"She did not report this incident in Lagos. On arrival in Doha, she made an allegation against this passenger, leading to his arrest and detention for about eighteen hours."
During his detention, "his wife suffered mental, physical, and psychological trauma without any form of care. She wondered how her husband could have committed such a despicable infraction given that she was with him throughout the boarding process."
The authority further revealed that the passenger was coerced into signing a document written entirely in Arabic. "The authorities in Doha made the man pay a hefty fine and forced him to sign a document written ONLY in Arabic! Desperate for freedom to proceed on his journey to the US, the passenger signed a document which contents he did not understand."
Despite the penalty, "the airline refused to fly him to his final destination. He had to buy tickets on another airline and proceed at great financial and reputational cost."
NCAA officials said Qatar Airways had also failed to cooperate during regulatory engagements.
"Upon invitation by the NCAA, the airline's country manager, who has a penchant for evading meetings with the NCAA, only sent his subordinates to attend. However, the NCAA made a determination on that matter along with others."
The statement accused the airline of consistent non-compliance: "As has become typical of @qatarairways, they failed to comply with all determinations made from that meeting."
It added that "they have also failed to treat subsequent complaints from other passengers escalated to them by the CAA, including a total silence upon receipt of a letter of investigation (LOI) sent to them by the NCAA. This behaviour stops now."
Emphasising Nigeria’s regulatory stance, the authority stated: "I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don't even have any."
"This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria. This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA."
The NCAA reiterated: "It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023."
On bilateral air service agreements, it noted: "When BASAs are signed, they must be respected by both parties. Every airline is expected to, upon approval to operate in Nigeria, understand and comply with consumer protection regulations."
"To continue to treat our laws with contempt while respecting regulations across Europe and elsewhere is not ideal and must be bought to a complete and final stop."
The NCAA stressed its dual role in aviation oversight: "This department protects the airlines as much as it protects passengers."
It also warned of stronger sanctions, quoting the aviation regulator: "The DGCA, Captain Chris Najomo, has never minced words about his position on consumer protection issues, and we will apply appropriate and stiff penalties against the airlines that, in perpetuity, fail to comply."
Finally, it revealed that other carriers were also under watch: "In the same vein, Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Air have also been properly advised about certain infractions and, failing to comply with the determinations of the CAA, will be sanctioned heavily."