Stop Encouraging Touts, Arik Boss Urges Passengers

The Chairman of Arik Airline, Chief Johnson Arumeni has called on passengers using Nigerian Airports to stop encouraging touts as they make the air fare too expensive.

Arumeni said that airport touts in the name of assisting passengers purchase flight tickets exploit them without paying any form of tax to the government.

The Arik Chairman who spoke to The Tide Correspondent at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa during an interview reminded passengers that they were being deceived by the touts who claim to be assisting them thereby making them to spend more than the stipulated air fare.

He explained that considering the high cost of maintaining the aircraft, air fare charged by Nigerian airlines is not too expensive but blamed the passengers who patronise touts to their disadvantage.

“Touts make the air fare expensive as they do it in the name of assistance to the passengers, deceive and exploit them without paying tax. It has been on for years.

Why do we like being deceived?” Arumeni emphasised.

According to him, “we in the Arik Airline have tried to educate the people that we have enough space for them since that is one of the strategies adopted by the touts to deceive the passengers” and urged other airlines to enlighten their passengers on the issue.

Arumeni noted that all the airlines are desirous to fly always because the more they do, the more they cover their cost, pointing out that no airline likes to cansel or delay flight except on unavoidable situations.

Expressing worry over the inadequacy in structural facilities at the airports, he enjoined users to be concerned about the lack of infrastructure, which is not the fault of the airlines, saying the situation is worse now that we have security problems at the airports.

On whether there will be an increase in fare during the Christmas period, the Airk Chairman said there is no such plan for now, noting that although the airlines are owing the airport authority, it is not a bad debt.