The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on Monday threatened to sanction the British Airways if it failed to reduce its air fares for Nigerian passengers.
Rep. Nkiruka Onyejeocha (PDP- Abia) , the chairman of the committee, gave the warning at an investigative hearing on the arbitrary hike in air fares by international airlines operating in the country.
However, on Feb. 22, the House at plenary session mandated the Committee on Aviation to investigate high fares charged by international airlines.
Onyejeocha noted that in spite of the free market economy of the country, airfares in Nigeria was the highest within the West Africa sub-region.
“This arbitrary airfare charges are exploitative, particularly as the country’s aviation fuel is one of the cheapest in the market,’’she said.
According to her, Nigerians pay higher to travel to places like Europe and America, while other African countries attract cheaper fares at same distances.
“This exploitation must not be allowed to continue, more importantly as Nigeria is one of the most lucrative routes in the world with minimum daily passengers of 1,000,”she said.
“The bottom line is that you must reduce your fares or you quit,’’she said.
“This unethical behavour of airlines cannot continue unchecked, we need the fare to be reviewed, “she said.
She appealed to all airline operators to cooperate with the committee to ensure a downward review of fares charged.
The legislator assured the operators of the committee’s readiness to collaborate with them and other stakeholders to address the challenges facing the operators.
Onyejeocha blamed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authourity (NCAA) for not doing enough to check activities of the airlines.
Mr Kola Adeyinka, Country General Manager of the British Airways, told the committee that the European Anti-Trust legislation prohibited him from discussing price structure in the presence of other airline operators.
He said that fixing air fare was influenced by demand and supply and competitive environment.
Adeyinka said that the United Kingdom Department of Transport and its Nigerian counterpart were discussing on the matter and would come out with resolution in June.
He noted that air fare pricing in Nigeria was different from what was obtainable in Ghana.
Adeyinka said that the airline was ready to work with the committee to satisfy its customers.
“We are willing to work with the House, we will not do anything to jeopardise the interest of our customers,” he said.
He assured the committee that the fare would be reviewed and a brief would be sent to the House.
Mr Harold Demuren, Director-General of NCAA, said that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways had been under similar investigations in other countries over imbalance in airfare.
He said that after a thorough investigation in Nov.14, 2011 by NCAA, it was discovered that both airlines colluded to fix the passenger fuel surcharge which affected Nigerian customers.
Demuren said that the disparities between airfares from Nigeria and similar distances, particularly, Ghana remained unanswered.
He said that the NCAA would work assiduously to prevent the exploitation of Nigerians by imposing stiff penalties.
Mr Aminu Agoa,National President of National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies in his presentation said that the air fare price structure displayed on Internet was not saleable to Nigerians.
Agoa said that members of the association only made marginal interest as airline operators did not pay commission.
He blamed the British Airways, which, he noted, started the differential in airfare while other airlines followed.
Other stakeholders at the hearing include Lufthansa Airline, Air France, Qatar Air, KLM, South African Airways among others.