Fg Warns Foreign Airlines To Stop Maltreating Nigerian Passengers

SAN FRANCISCO, January 19, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has warned international airlines to stop treating in-bound and out-bound Nigerian passengers with disdain, threatening that there would be severe consequences for any airliner that treats Nigerians shabbily, particularly on international operations.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika gave the warning when a delegation from the Emirates Group paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja, where he announced that the international terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport would be completed before the end of this year.

A statement issued yesterday by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs in the ministry quoted Sirika as telling his guests that the government would not condone the practice of subjecting Nigerians to all forms of suffering like making them to walk across long distances before boarding or using small aircraft that lack the capacity to carry the travelers along with their luggage to their destinations.

The warning is coming on the heels of the recent failures of Turkish Airlines to fly in the luggage of passengers from Istanbul to Abuja on two occasions. In one of such flights, some enraged passengers invaded the tarmac of the NAIA in protest against the airline, resulting into a serious security breach.

The statement noted that Sirika informed the visiting group that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority had been directed to invoke all relevant laws to protect the interest and rights of Nigerians and others from being flagrantly abused by airlines.

He then went on to assure the operators of the Federal Government's commitment to the complete overhaul and upgrading of the nation's airport facilities to make the use of Nigeria's airspace a delightful experience for both operators and passengers.