DG, NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has denied giving approval to any other airline in the country to sell non-refundable ticket to passengers.
The General Manager, Consumer Protection of the agency, Kalu Anaso, told THISDAY in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that NCAA does not give approval to airlines to sell non-refundable tickets to passengers.
The development, he said, is at the discretion of the airlines stressing that passengers must be informed.
“If a passenger buys a ticket he should check it to see when it has non-refundable. There are different types of tickets.
Some are refundable with taxes deducted, while some will refund you all the money; so all tickets are not the same but we did not give approval to any airline to sell non-refundable ticket. If there is anyone that has such problem bring it to our notice so that we know how to intervene and settle it,” Anaso said.
NCAA was reacting to the allegation by Azman Air that the agency gave it approval to sell non-refundable tickets to passengers who were not eventually airlifted by the airline to their destinations.
Speaking on behalf of the passengers, CEO of the Daniel young Investment Limited, Mr. Daniel Young, told THISDAY that Azman Air had adopted it as a policy not to refund tickets to passengers without prior notice to the passengers that such tickets are not refundable.
Yound noted that checking the tickets of the airline; there were no written indication that the tickets if not used the fare would not be refunded.
“Recently a 16-year old student of the Nigerian Defence Academy on Abuja-Kaduna flight was stranded because after he was screened and allowed to board, the Aviation Security of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), called him back to check another thing in his luggage. The FAAN official informed Azman Air officials at the foot of the aircraft that the boy would come back to board his flight. But by the time the boy was allowed to come and board the flight, the flight crew had closed the aircraft door and started taxing.
He spent over seven hours at the terminal. The airline refused to refund him and his parents could only raise N13, 000, which was less than the fare. It was the following day that a Good Samaritan bought him ticket for another airline. NCAA and FAAN officials were very angry. In fact, FAAN officials took the On-Duty Card of the Azman Air station manager and he threatened to report to the Chairman of the company, claiming that NCAA was aware that the airline does not refund passengers their fares,” Mr. Young told THISDAY.
He said that passengers have rights to information notwithstanding how the flight booking was made, noting that airlines are obliged to provide passengers with a written notice, setting out the rights they are entitled to incase their flights are delayed, cancelled or denied boarding, adding that 95 per cent air passengers do not know their rights.
“Azman Air knows that passengers have a right to refund but have chosen to hide under layered subterfuge to rob them of their cash. It is criminal to hold back people’s money without offering any form of relief to them. Azman claims that NCAA approved the policy, and that seems very odd. It is not clear why NCAA should approve a different refund policy for Azman Air against what is seen in the Civil Aviation Act.
“Passengers on Azman Air never get refunded whatever the circumstance and NCAA is standing by without doing anything. In fact, consumer protection personnel are even afraid to challenge them now because they know that nothing will come out of it,” Young said.
Reacting to the controversy, the Chief Operating Officer of TAL Helicopters, Femi Adeniji explained that some tickets are designated as non-refundable but passengers are usually informed and there is usually time-line for such tickets.
“Yes, some tickets are non-refund but you have 12 months to use the ticket. Does this happen here? South West Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines issue very cheap tickets which are non-refundable but if you wish to use the ticket again, you are asked to pay the difference in fares. This, I believe, is not the case here. Let the airlines Azman Air, Aero Contractors come out and clarify this action,” he said.
THISDAY contacted the CEO of Azman Air, Muhammed Hadi Abdul Munaf, who neither picked his call nor responded to the message sent to him through SMS.
