Taiwo Popoola
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has initiated maximum enforcement action against Kenya Airways for many consumer protection infractions.
Urban Express News Online reports that among the infractions is the airline’s refusal to tender an official apology, refund and compensate a Nigerian traveller, Gloria Omisore, within 48 hours.
The NCAA said while the airline requested an extension of one hour after 48 hours elapsed, it failed to comply with the agency’s demand.
The Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection at NCAA, Michael Achimugu, while disclosing this in a post on X on Saturday, also noted that on Thursday, Kenya Airways failed to send in a compliance report about a scheduled flight that was delayed for seven hours with no compensation for the passengers.
Achimugu further revealed that when the airline was confronted over the phone, its team claimed ignorance of the NCAA Regulations, wondering how a company would operate in a foreign country with no recourse to the relevant laws.
“To this end, we are organising a retreat for all airlines operating in Nigeria to learn and relearn Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
“The Country Manager in Nigeria apologised for the Gloria Omisore incident. The airline admits that they should never have boarded the passenger from Lagos.
“The airline failed to discover the lack of a France transit visa and flew this passenger to Nairobi where she had a 17-hour layover, only to be told that she would have to endure a further 10-hour wait if she must be flown to the UK,” the NCAA spokesman said.
