NCAA to ground foreign airlines over fare disparity

By Daniel Eteghe Vanguardnger.com

LAGOS— AS the 30-day ultimatum served foreign airlines to reduce fares expires today, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, said, yesterday, it would ground any airline that failed to comply with the directive.

Director-General of the NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, who revealed this to newsmen, also ruled out a new operational guidelines for both domestic and foreign airlines operating in the country.

Demuren said that all airlines were expected to mandatorily file tariffs showing all rates, fares and charges which must be included in the single integrated fare. He also alleged that airlines’ base fares were for purposes of collecting the mandatory five per cent per ticket sales charge, while the manipulated surcharges are pocketed by the airlines.

The guidelines, dated April 23, 2012, read: “Every airline shall file every tariff, whether seasonal discounted, promotional or otherwise and provide within the tariff, the different specific classes or types of passenger service, the availability, the type of aircraft and the seating configuration used on such aircraft for each class or type of passenger service.

“The filed tariff shall, in all cases, include all booking classes available within the different travel classes or cabins and the specific fare for that booking class, including all applicable terms and conditions.

“Every airline shall immediately remove all distinction between surcharges and base fare on their tickets and cargo sales, excluding any third party  fees or taxes and have one single integrated fare, other than approved statutory taxes which are collected only on behalf of appropriate regulatory authorities, every other component of the cost of travel shall be included in the single integrated fare.”

Declaring that the new regulatory order takes immediate effect, the NCAA warned that airlines that failed to comply with the directive will be grounded at all airports across the country. It was also gethered that this measure was rolled out as part of efforts to checkmate the ill treatment meted out to Nigerians by both domestic and foreign airlines.