Stakeholders in the country’s aviation industry have stressed the need for the local content law in Nigeria to be applied fully in regulatory operations of travel agents in order to preserve the sector for the benefits of the citizens.
The stakeholders who were at the March quarterly breakfast meeting of the Aviation Round Table at Golf View Hotel in Lagos with the theme: Nigerian travel agencies, challenges and regulations urged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as the regulatory agency for air travel business in Nigeria to go beyond the licensing of travel agencies by taking steps to address the challenges that have in recent years, caused a decline in air bookings and performance of travel agencies in the country.
The stakeholders in a communique issued at the end of the summit called on the NCAA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) to frequently share data to avoid conflicting figures in the industry which impede planning.
They also called on the government to create an enabling environment through the NCAA for the growth of travel agencies in Nigeria.
In their resolutions, they anjoined all travel agents in Nigeria to make deliberate efforts to register with the NCAA so as to attract favourable regulatory benefits and protection from external exploitation.
According to them in the communique: “The NCAA as a sole regulator of air travel business in Nigeria, has a duty to approach the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the country’s expectations in terms of standards that should be applied in the Nigerian environment, regarding travel agency business so as to protect its own.
That NANTA should develop and implement rules that can regulate the conduct and ethics of its members in their transaction with customers and airlines.”
Some of the resolutions contained in the communique also include, the need for stakeholders to give attention and emphasis to training and professionalism in travel agency business and also, the need to sign the Fly-Nigeria-Act legislation to help protect the Nigeria travel market for both local airlines and travel agents.
