The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at NCAA, Michael Achimugu, disclosed this while speaking at a roadshow organised by NCAA at the Lagos airport on Monday, November 18.

Achimugu announced that the agency will impose fines of $170 and N10,000 on foreign and local airlines, respectively for delayed passengers’ luggage as a first measure to guide against such an act.“For way too long, Nigerians have been claiming not to know about the existence and the duties of the NCAA. Our duty, which is what we owe Nigerians, is to bring awareness to the industry. The passengers need to become more aware of their rights so that airlines will not continue to cheat them. The little things about the regulations that the passengers need to know, for instance, if you arrive at an airport and your luggage didn’t arrive with you, most passengers do not know that they have a right to demand compensation from the airlines. If it is a domestic flight, you can walk to the airline’s counter to demand for your N10,000 for not bringing your bag with you. For international flights, it is $170. A lot of passengers do not know this thing, but today, we are bringing an end to that circle of ignorance. We are bringing the regulations to Nigerians in an exciting manner.

Achimugu stated that the BCAA website is easily accessible for aggrieved passengers to make complaints against erring airlines

Air France is said to have the highest number of missing baggage with 2,075 cases among foreign carriers flying into Nigeria followed by KLM with 1,938; Egypt Air, 1,850; Royal Air Maroc, 1,745, British Airways, 1,428; Lufthansa, 1,535; Kenya Airways with 1,346; and Delta Airlines, 1,101.

Others include Qatar Airways, 980; Ethiopian Airlines, 545; Air Cote d’Ivoire, 424; Rwandair, 365; Asky, 290, South African Airways, 77; Air Peace, 49; Africa World Airlines, 35; Taag Angola, 31; and the Middle East with only five missing luggage.

The summary from NCAA further indicated that no fewer than 19,274 passengers’ luggage, across all airlines – foreign and local were declared delayed/missing in the first half of 2024.

According to Statistics from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other sources in the sector showed that in 2023, 2.04 million Nigerians travelled out of the country, but recorded a drastic decline in 2024 to a paltry 816,000 from the first quarter (Q1) to third quarter (Q3), 2024, representing a 60 per cent drop in the load factor.

The continuous high rates of foreign currencies, especially the United States dollar, had made foreign travel very expensive for Nigerians, who usually embarked on overseas trips for holidays and weekend visits, which aviation stakeholders described as “frivolous or casual travels.

The statistics showed that a total of 2,856,000 million passengers travelled in 2023 and 2024, with a decline of 1,226,000, representing a 60 per cent fall in the current year.

Also, there has reportedly been a decline to the over 600 per cent increment in the prices of foreign air tickets in the last few years.

An economy seat to the United States of America that was N350,000 prior to the floating of the naira in May 2023 is now between N2.7 million to N3 million, thereby, making foreign travel a necessity.

“It is true, traveling has declined by 40 to 50 per cent. The decline is due to poor showing of every other sector in Nigeria. ‘ President of the Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Dr Kingsley Nwokoma, told Leadership News It’s not limited to only the flying public, you need money to buy air tickets before you can go anywhere and holiday makers are now looking for cheaper alternatives such as going for vacation in the West Coast, Nigeria and when you go within West Coast buses or in their vehicles. It’s unfortunate, this is where we are, but we hope things get better because it’s a chain and it’s not limited to aviation. We hope things return to normal where families can all travel for summer “For instance, for a family of four to buy tickets, you will pay through your nose and parents have school fees and other important bills to pay. Even for local flights, from Lagos to Abuja is over N200,000 and to the South East, it is over N300,000; this is a reflection of our economy.”