TheCable

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace, says airlines will begin to compensate passengers for delayed or cancelled flights by January 2024.

The minister spoke on Tuesday when he appeared before the national assembly joint committee on aviation to defend his ministry’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

According to Keyamo, aviation regulators will start forcing airlines that delay or cancel flights to return customers’ funds.

The minister whose aim is to improve transparency in the sector, said he will ensure also that a weekly list of offenders be published in the media as part of the new compensation scheme.

“I have called the customer’s satisfaction commission regarding the treatment of Nigerians. In fact, I have gone back to the committee, that is how much I am concerned,” the minister said.

“And I have said at the last address that I gave during our stakeholders meeting in Lagos and our retreat in Warri.

“I said on a weekly basis, please publish the list of airlines that do not fly as at when due, cancelled flights, delayed flights, how many hours it was delayed, were there compensation, actions they took as regulator against these airlines. We are starting that in January.

“For every delay, there is a report, an actual report by the regulator. What did they do? Did they pay compensation? And if they didn’t pay compensation, we have said that the other way to get compensation if they can return cash is that once the passenger is buying the next ticket, it must be given a rebate.

“That passenger must be given a 50 percent rebate or 40 percent rebate because there must be a rebate.”

In October 2023, the minister cited that the compensation of travellers is stipulated in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Act.

Speaking further on restructuring Nigeria’s airport at the national assembly hearing, Keyamo said the best option to develop the airports in the country is through concessions to investors.

“Private partnership must come to the fore. It is not even negotiable, we don’t have the funds to do so (manage the airports),” he said.

“In concession, we will give the people what we want, not what they want. We have to decide what we want. It is the nature, the quality of the concession that all of us will agree on.

“We want to go ahead but I want every one of us to sit down, and look for the best hands.

“We should go to the end of this world to look for the best and the best thing for Nigeria and raise our offer to tier one, not tier two. Tier one investors should come to Nigeria and build our gateway for us.”

Last month, the aviation minister warned chief executive officers (CEOs) of agencies under his ministry not to fail to perform and deliver to avoid being sacked.

Keyamo encouraged stakeholders to focus on solving the problems in the industry.