The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has imposed a N5 million penalty on Qatar Airways for violations related to consumer protection, signalling a stronger regulatory stance toward airlines operating in the country.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, who disclosed the development in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“Glad to announce that, today, the NCAA has sanctioned @qatarairways to the tune of five million naira being penalty for consumer protection-related infractions. In addition, the letters of investigation (LOI) written to the airline over other cases may lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily,” Achimugu wrote.
In September, NCAA accused Qatar Airways of mistreating Nigerian passengers and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
The regulator threatened stiff penalties against the airline for repeatedly disregarding its directives.
The latest incident involved a Nigerian passenger accused by a Qatar Airways cabin crew member of sexual harassment during boarding in Lagos for a flight to the United States via Doha.
The allegation was only reported in Doha, where the passenger was arrested, detained for 18 hours, fined, and compelled to sign a document written solely in Arabic. Qatar Airways allegedly refused to continue his journey, forcing him to purchase another ticket at considerable financial and reputational cost.
The NCAA said it invited Qatar Airways’ country manager to a meeting over the incident, but he failed to attend, sending subordinates instead.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Achimugu said in an earlier post.
He also revealed that Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Air have been cautioned for similar infractions and risk heavy sanctions if they fail to comply with the regulator’s decisions.
