Qatar Airways Treating Nigerian Laws With Contempt – NCAA

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has accused Qatar Airways of treating Nigeria’s aviation laws with contempt, warning to impose stiff sanctions on the airline for “continued disregard of consumer protection regulations”.

Director of Public Relations and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Mr. Michael Achimugu, disclosed this in a post on his X handle on Friday.

He stressed that the airline failed to respect Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023 on consumer protection and has ignored official determinations issued by the authority.

Achimugu cited the case of a Nigerian passenger travelling with his wife on a Lagos–Doha–United States flight who was accused by a member of Qatar Airways’ cabin crew of inappropriate conduct.

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The allegation, he said, was not reported in Lagos but was raised on arrival in Doha, leading to the passenger’s arrest, 18-hour detention, and the imposition of a hefty fine.

“The authorities in Doha forced the passenger to sign a document written only in Arabic. Desperate to secure his release, he signed a document whose contents he did not understand. Despite this, Qatar Airways refused to fly him to his final destination, forcing him to purchase another ticket at great financial and reputational cost,” Achimugu said.

He explained that when the NCAA invited the airline for a meeting on the incident, the country manager failed to appear and instead sent subordinates.

“Determinations issued by the NCAA after the meeting were allegedly ignored, while subsequent complaints and even a Letter of Investigation (LOI) sent to the airline received no response.”

“This behaviour stops now. It is against the law for any airline not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Achimugu said.

He added that while some countries may lack strong consumer protection systems, Nigeria would not allow any airline to disregard its laws while fully complying with those of Europe and elsewhere.

“The Director General of Civil Aviation, Captain Chris Najomo, has never minced words about his position on consumer protection issues, and we will apply appropriate and stiff penalties against airlines that fail to comply,” Achimugu warned.

“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. As has become typical of @qatarairways, they failed to comply with all determinations made from that meeting.

“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.

“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. 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.”