The Nigerian government has issued a formal warning to foreign airlines operating in the country after it saw a rise in the number of its citizens being accepted for travel only for them to be denied entry to their destination and then deported back to Nigeria.
The issue specifically relates to airlines that sell itineraries that connect through a third country, whereby passengers are being flown from Nigeria to an airport in a foreign country with the intention of connecting onto another flight to their final destination.
Once at the layover airport, however, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority claims airlines are then telling passengers that they don’t have the necessary visa and are then being straight back to Nigeria.
Aviation regulators understandably want airlines to carefully check visa requirements for the passenger’s final destination before accepting them on the first flight.
While the Nigerian CAA did not name any airlines, so-called ‘super connectors’ like Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Turkish Airways carry a lot of passengers from Nigeria who are simply connecting through their respective home hub airports in Dubai, Doha, and Istanbul.
“The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has received several complaints about airlines selling tickets to passengers, only to airlift them halfway to their destinations and deport them back to Nigeria,” the statement from the agency read.
“These actions, which involve the refusal of boarding/entry at intermediate/transit stops to some Nigerians due to visa/travel restrictions, are causing significant distress to passengers and tarnishing the reputation of the aviation industry in Nigeria.”
The statement added: “The NCAA finds such practices completely unacceptable. It is the responsibility of airlines to inform passenger about any potential barriers to their admissibility at their destination before they commence their travel. Passengers should be put in a position where they are denied entry or returned to Nigeria only on arrival at intermediate/transit stops.”
The NCAA has warned airlines that it will “no longer tolerate” inadmissible passengers being transported halfway to their destination only to then be deported back to Nigeria and that any airline found to be engaged in this practice could face being banned from operating in the country.
Airlines are required to ensure that passengers have the necessary travel documents to enter their destination country and can face hefty fines if they let someone without the correct visa travel.
The aviation industry relies on travel documentation and verification systems like the Timatic platform from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), which is regularly updated to ensure that airlines don’t accidentally accept someone for travel who is ‘inadmissible.’
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, even platforms like Timatic couldn’t always keep up with the constantly changing travel restrictions, with passengers accidentally accepted for travel and then refused entry on arrival at their destination.
