NCAA Plans Air Travellers End of Year Consumer Awareness Programme in Port Harcourt

Ending the year in a grand style, the Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has planned a Special Consumer Awareness Programme for air travellers in the South South region of the country.

To this end the CPD invites air travellers, airline operators, other aviation service providers to a two-day Consumer Awareness events in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, geared towards the sensitisation of the travelling public on the rights and obligations of passengers.

The programme, which was put together by different organisations will involve Consumer Awareness roadshow with the theme: ‘Effective and Efficient Travel Experience Management for Increased Participation and Enhanced Regulation.’

The Road Show, which is organised by Janvier Technologies Limited, will be held on December 4, 2024, kicking off at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa by 10:00 a.m.

This will be followed by Town Hall themed ‘Repositioning Nigerian Aviation Industry for Operational Efficiency, Service Excellence and Economic Viability.’

The Town Hall event organised by GPC Limited to be held at LA kings Event Centre, 31 Stadium Road, Port Harcourt will be conducted in an interactional manner to create opportunity for the full participation of passengers to air their experiences about travelling by air in Nigeria.

These two events will be capped by a Conference on December 5, 2024 with the theme ‘Enhancing Global Prominence and International Competitiveness of Nigerian Aviation Sector.’

The Conference organised by Pliance Global Aviation will be held at Osborn La-palm Royal Resort, 3 Olaka Street, off Abacha Road, GRA Phase 2, Port Harcourt.

The Consumer Protection Directorate of NCAA has carried out studies and discovered that many passengers do not know their rights and obligations and also that flight delays could be caused by natural phenomena, therefore neither the airline nor the airport management could be blamed for situations occasioned by such circumstances.

So, it is in pursuance of the renewed commitment of the executive management of the NCAA under the leadership of Capt. Chris Najomo, towards birthing a civil aviation that will contribute maximally to economic growth and development in the country that the regulatory authority has decided to close this gap through the sensitisation campaign.

One of the objectives of the town hall interaction is to inform consumers of their rights, build a more informed customers and air travel community base, entrench service excellence culture across the civil aviation value chain in the country.

There has been great need, more than ever, to adopt a more robust and inclusive regulatory approach and strategic intervention mechanism in the discharge of the Authority’s mandate.

For effective feedback from air travellers, there will be random customer interviews and engagement and a town hall interface with stakeholders.

This programme has become necessary to close the gap of knowledge between air travellers, airlines and aviation agencies, which in the past had led to animosities and poor consumer experience among many that travel both on domestic and international destinations.

Experts will deliver papers at the Conference to expand the knowledge of air travellers and airport users on the innovative ideas introduced by the current management of NCAA on consumer protection and also to throw light once again on the Customer rights as contained in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (NCAR).

Fundamentally, the series of stakeholder engagement and public awareness programme is aimed at setting the roadmap for achieving a more efficient civil aviation and air transportation system in the country, through an inclusive dialogue by critical stakeholders and major actors in the Nigerian civil aviation air transportation value chain