The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has threatened to eliminate all unregistered travel agencies in the country.
This came after news filtered that over 400 travel agencies in the country are operating without being registered by the regulatory agency and so do not have the requisite local licences to operate.
The Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman has given the ultimatum that any travel agency that fails to register with the agency by the end of the year will be delisted.
He made this known when officials of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), visited him in Lagos. Also as part of the delegation that paid him a visit were the CEO and Treasurer of the Kenyan Associate of Travel Agents (KATA).
The motives of the agency, according to Usman, is to eliminate fake travel agents that use the platform to swindle travellers, in the guise of selling flight tickets to them. The registration is also aimed at regulating the operations of travel agents in the country towards rendering effective service to the public.
This means that intending travellers need to be wary of unregistered travel agencies or agents and stop patronising them. That is, before one goes into business with any agency, one must ensure that its certificates of registration or licences are displayed in order to differentiate between the real and the fake ones.
Also, it is important to note that travel agencies cannot do business with International Air Transport Association (IATA) without registration as the agency has been directed not to deal with any agency without NCAA’s Certificate of Registration.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is the regulatory body for aviation in Nigeria. It became autonomous with the passing into law of the Civil Aviation Act 2006 by the National Assembly and the assent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Act does not only empower the Authority to regulate Aviation Safety without political interference but also to carry out oversight functions of Airports, Airspace, Meteorological Services, etc as well as the regulation of the economy of the industry.