FEBRUARY 23, 2012 BY JOHN AMEH, ABUJA
The House of Representatives on Wednesday criticised the operations of foreign airlines in Nigeria, particularly their high fares and alleged maltreatment of Nigerian passengers.
A motion sponsored by Mr. Emmanuel Ekon and 31 others also frowned on the practice of spraying insecticides on Nigerian passengers before take-off.
The House also observed that the crew members of all the foreign airlines were non-Nigerians, despite the huge business benefit they enjoyed in Nigeria.
The House passed a resolution asking the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and other regulatory agencies to ensure a reduction in fares and to “compel international airline operators to improve on their services and adhere to the Nigerian Local Content Law.”
The House noted that ticket for flying from Nigeria to Europe, America and other parts of the world “are the highest when compared with other countries where these airlines operate.”
The House also observed that from available records, “each airline carries a minimum of 300 passengers daily into and out of the country, making Nigeria one of the most lucrative routes in the world.”
Moving the motion, Ekon told the House that in spite of the business advantage of operating in Nigeria, Nigerians paid 23 per cent more on all classes of tickets than travellers in other parts of the world.
To buttress his position, Ekon said while a first class return ticket on the Lagos-Dubai route cost $4,695.5 on Emirates Airline, the airline charged $3,512 on the Dubai-Johannesburg route, which had the same mileage as Nigeria.
Similarly, he stated that Delta Airlines charged $5,874 on a Business Class for Lagos-Atlanta route, but charged $3,689.9 on the Atlanta-Bombay route.
He added, “First Class passengers on Air France pay $8,984 for Lagos-Paris route with 2,919 miles, while the same ticket for Paris-Bombay route with 4,349 miles costs $8,739.
“Even in Ghana, South Africa and other African countries where these airlines operate, the air fares are far lower than in Nigeria.”
The lawmaker expressed concern that aside not having Nigerian crew members on board, most of the airlines did not serve Nigerian dishes on board.
“But, more disturbing is the insulting and dehumanising practice of spraying insecticides on Nigerians.
“This has health implications; this is one of the issues that our regulatory agencies must address,” he said.
SOURCE: The Punch, 23 February 2012. http://punchontheweb.com/
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