Aviation authority warns airlines to stop selling tickets in dollars

dimeji akinloye

July 4, 2016 6:35 AM

The regulatory agency, which gave the directive on Sunday, July 3, said the airlines guilty of this have been officially notified of the immediate order.

NCAA warns airlines to stop selling tickets in dollars.

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It declared their action as a flagrant contravention of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s prerequisites guiding the cost of products and services in the country.

It was learnt that some of the foreign carriers started collecting payment for flight tickets only in dollars since April this year so as to repatriate funds to their home countries due to scarcity of foreign exchange in Nigeria.

The airline operators had in June told the Federal Government that many of them were contemplating to stop their operations due to their inability to repatriate their earnings to their home countries.

According to the Area Manager, International Air Transport Agency, South West Africa, Mr. Samson Fatokun, who led the foreign airlines to a meeting with the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said that the non-repatriation of over $591m to their home countries could force them to stop operating in the country.

In a statement on Sunday, the spokesman for the NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, said the action of the erring airlines is insensitive.

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“In other words, some foreign airlines have blatantly resorted to selling tickets only in foreign currencies. This act is considered insensitive to passengers who have chosen the airlines for their travels,” it stated.

The statement quoted a CBN circular issued on April 17, 2015 directing that pricing of any product would continue to be in naira only.

dimeji akinloye