There are raging concerns over persistent consumer-related infractions by foreign airlines operating into the country with the country’s civil aviation authority threatening fire and brimstone and vowing to impose appropriate sanctions.

Daily Trust reports that Nigerian passengers have been complaining about ill-treatment meted to them by the foreign airlines, most of them failing to comply with the regulations on consumer protection.

In recent times the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the apex aviation regulatory authority in Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem, had called out some of the foreign airlines following complaints from passengers over the treatment meted out to them within the Nigerian airspace and outside Nigeria.

There are no fewer than 30 foreign airlines operating in Nigeria and providing air transportation services to Nigerians travelling across the nooks and crannies

According to a recent report, on a weekly basis, about 20 airlines operate over 200 frequencies, carrying over 54,000 passengers out of Nigeria.

Some of the foreign airlines are British Airways which operates 14 weekly frequencies to Nigeria; Virgin Atlantic, seven; KLM, 21; Air France, 11; Lufthansa, 13; Ethiopian Airlines, 27 frequencies; Emirates Airlines, 14; and Royal Air Maroc, with another seven weekly frequencies.

Others are Qatar Airways, seven; Turkish Airlines, 13; Egypt Air, four; Delta Airlines, seven; Kenya Airways, seven; ASKY Airlines, 12; Saudi Airlines with five weekly flights, among others.

The 2024 executive summary on international and domestic flight operations indicated that 2,018,948 inbound and 2,116,882 outbound passengers were airlifted on the international flights.

The international passenger still maintained an upward trend despite the high cost of tickets showing the extent of patronage received from Nigerian passengers.

It would be recalled that in 2023, 2.04 million Nigerians travelled out of the country, while inbound passengers were 1.80 million.

For instance, Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier of Ethiopia, has the highest seat capacity with a total weekly seat of 8,275 on the Nigerian routes, using Boeing 777-300ER, B737 Max and B787 Dreamliner on the Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Kano routes.

Over the years, international flight tickets have ballooned by more than 100 per cent in the last two years due to the high exchange rate and inflation.

But despite the high cost of tickets, some Nigerian passengers have not had it so good travelling with some of the foreign airlines due to infringement on passengers’ rights.

In recent times, there have been an avalanche of complaints against some of the foreign airlines over the maltreatment of Nigerian passengers without regards to the provision of Part 19 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations 2023.

Part 19 of the Nig.CAR 2023 which was gazetted in 2015, deals with Passengers’ Rights and Responsibilities and Airlines’ Obligations to Passengers.

The Part also addresses consumer protection issues, including, compensations for denied boarding, delays and cancellations of flights.

For instance, Part 19.1.1 prescribes minimum rights and responsibilities of passengers and airlines’ obligations to passengers, where : (a) There is an incidence of Overbooking and passengers are denied boarding against their will ; (b) A scheduled flight is delayed; (c) A scheduled flight is cancelled; and (d) Passengers fail to discharge their responsibilities.

Cases of passengers’ maltreatment

Earlier in February, a Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore, who was a transit passenger of the airline, had in a video which went viral on X (formerly Twitter), accused Kenya Airways of maltreating her and subjecting her to in-human treatment.

The video had shown the passenger in an altercation with the airline’s desk agent over alleged delays at the airport.

The airline’s agent was heard telling the passenger who was travelling from Lagos to Manchester, “Call your President” while the altercation was going on.

The attention of the Federal Government was later drawn to the video with the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development condemning the maltreatment of the passenger.

While the airline later apologized over the issue, it was equally forced to pay a fine as confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority.

“After a number of meetings, including a visit to the NCAA by the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria and officials from the airline and JKIA, Kenya Airways has, on Wednesday 17/09/2025, paid the sanction fee as penalty for the Gloria Omisore and other consumer protection-related infractions.

“While commending the airline for complying with the determination of the NCAA, we must remind that the timeframe for the resolution of the cases for which this sanction was announced has since elapsed. Therefore, the payment of sanction fines does not conclude the issues,” the NCAA had said.

In August this year, British Airways denied 58 passengers boarding on its Abuja-London flight following a faulty door on its aircraft.

For safety reasons, the airline had to keep some seats unoccupied, as confirmed by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The authority stated that as a result of the faulty door, “they had to deny 58 passengers boarding this morning.”

“Hotel accommodation has been provided, and 28 passengers opted to return home, while 30 accepted the offer.

“Affected passengers can file for compensation. Arrangements are being made to airlift them tomorrow morning,” Michael Achimugu, the NCAA publicist said.

While the consumer related issues were resolved, it was learnt that some number of passengers were equally denied boarding in London with some Nigerians querying the rationale for bringing the aircraft to Nigeria in the first place.

One of the passengers onboard the flight from London wondered if the airline, despite its over 70-year presence in Nigeria, would bring similar aircraft with a faulty door to another country.

Also recently, Qatar Airways was called out by the CAA over consumer related infractions.

The airline was said to have made a Nigerian passenger sign a document written in Arabic which he did not understand. According to the CAA, the airline’s country manager has been summoned several times without appearing in person.

Based on this, the civil aviation authority is threatening to wield the big stick by applying appropriate sanctions on the airline.

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

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

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 was 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.

Recently Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan national carrier has had its fair share. Recently, the NCAA called it out, saying its “baggage handling process leaves much to be desired. No excuses will suffice this time.”

Also in 2024, the airline was also in the news over “inhuman treatment” of some Nigerians in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Amidst the rising complaints against foreign airlines, some analysts also believe Nigerians’ behavioural patterns also contribute to the issue.

Aviation analyst, Group Capt. John Ojikutu, rtd, said, “Why don’t we first consider our behavioural pattern first? Why not see into incessant Unruly behaviour of our people and the social level it got into? What had been the reactions of the responsible government and agencies authorities to the behaviour of those involved? Not many have seen yet that Unruly behaviour in civil aviation is an unlawful and criminal act.”

Airlines must be compliant – NANTA

Speaking with our correspondent, President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr. Yinka Folami commended the renewed focus of the NCAA on consumer protection, saying all airlines must be whipped to the lines to respect the laws and regulations of Nigeria.

“What I understand is that the Consumer Protection of the NCAA led by the lion-hearted Mike Achimugu, they are focused on the consumers and they are focused on service. What we want airlines and all operators including travel agents to do is to be compliant with the regulations. When we are compliant with the regulations, we would find some level of order. I know that the CAA is very accessible and open.”

‘Foreign airlines fond of treating Nigerian passengers shabbily’

Another aviation expert and General Secretary of the Aviation Roundtable and Safety Initiative, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo said foreign airlines are fond of maltreating Nigerian passengers. He lauded the renewed focus of civil aviation on consumer protection.

He said, “Treating Nigerian passengers shabbily has always been a recurring decimal within the Nigerian environment even outside Nigeria. There are two ways to do it. One is the regulation and its implementation and secondly competition.

“These two need to work side by side to improve customer service from the foreign airlines. It’s glaring that the competition is not yet there and we need an airport hub to build that competition.

“If we have that competition, the airlines would now begin to carve out programmes that are customer friendly, pocket wise and good service.

“Be that as it may, the regulation is there and happily the NCAA is changing for good. They are now very firm on consumer protection.”

He described as sheer display of arrogance the failure of Qatar Airways’ Country Manager to honour a summon by the NCAA, saying while Kenya Airways had been sanctioned, Qatar Airways too must be slammed with appropriate sanction if it’s necessary.

“How can the regulator call an airline manager and it would not report? I am happy with what the NCAA is doing and they should put some sanctions and fines in place for those who continue to disregard our regulations and give our passengers issues.

No airline will wilfully disobey regulations – AFRA

On his part, aviation stakeholder, Kingsley Nwokoma stated that passengers remain the reason for the airlines being in business and said none of the airlines would deliberately infringe on passengers’ rights.

However, he stated that any airline that breaches passengers’ rights must be held responsible.

Nwokoma who is the President of the Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFRA) said airlines should invest in training their crew in handling passengers.

“But the passengers too should also know that where their rights end is where they begin for others. They should not try to overdo things. We have the CAA which is a channel to complain to. If you have issues, there is a channel to complain to and follow up instead of becoming violent or doing things you are not supposed to.” (Daily Trust)