NCAA Tasks Airlines On Interline Tickets

The Nigerian Civil Avia

tion Authority (NCAA) says plans are underway for the interlining of tickets among domestic carriers so that passengers can travel on any available airline to their destinations.

The Director-General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren who stated this while unveiling the programme of the establishment said discussions had reached advanced stage on how to achieve the interlining of tickets among domestic carriers as part of efforts to harmonise operations in the sector.

“This is the way to go if we must remain in this business, retain our clients and prosper on it. We must not only continue to carry our passengers safely from one point to another, but must offer smooth, courteous and hassle-free air services from time to time”.

He said that NCAA had to convince a meeting of all domestic airlines to ascertain the readiness and workability of the new measure, such that through interlining agreements, holders of a particular airline ticket would be able to fly on another airline operating to the same route without being surcharged.

According to him, the only exception may be holders of promotional tickets, which originally have conditions attached to their usage at the time of purchase.

“On aviation fuel, we have stringent measure before aviation fuel can get into the aircraft, and we don’t start from the airport, it starts from the refineries, because it is a procedural thing. Nobody can import any fuel here without going through the right process. There are a lot of certifications”, he said.

Meanwhile, the International Aviation Transport Association (IATA) has registered Air Nigeria for a third time as part of its Operational Safety Audit.

Air Nigeria is the first and only West African airline that has consistently maintained its listing on the IOSA registry in three consecutive audits since 2007.

Speaking on Air Nigeria’s listing on the IOSA registry, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kinfe Kahassaye said the re-registration was coming at a time when the airline had been turned around and was competing favourably on domestic and regional routes with the plans to relaunch itself on the international scene in a short while.

He noted that Air Nigeria’s safety performance since its inception and the recent renewal of its listing on the IOSA registry was a further demonstration that the airline had been adhering to world class safety standards in a sustainable manner.

IOSA is the IATA operational safety audit programme and the internationally accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of airlines.

Reward Akwu