Ethiopian Airlines reacts to NCAA threat, says refundable fees in view of deportation
Barely 24 hours after the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) viewed the ‘refundable deportation fees’ charged by Ethiopian Airlines on Nigerians as exploitative and warned of sanctions, the airline has reacted saying, the added fees that ranged from $75 to $150 per passenger was to cover the travellers’ expenses in case they were denied entry and returned to Nigeria.
General Manager of the airline in Nigeria, Solomon Begashaw who denied the claims that the charges were “unauthorised fees” and an attempt to exploit Nigerians, blamed the decision on the extra charges by South Africa on passengers’ travelling to Johannesburg.
In a statement, he said the decision was taken following the passengers’ denial to enter into South Africa by the immigration authorities for various reasons.
According to him, “These passengers included those who had been inconvenienced during their stay at Johannesburg Airport before they were returned back to their airport of departure.
“They were asked to deposit the mentioned amount to cover their incidental expenses in case they were denied entry. This amount has always been refunded to the passengers when they had been allowed entry into South Africa”.
Begashaw who noted that the NCAA informed them about customers’ complaints against the extra charges, said “We are discussing with the authorities on how best to handle the matter through the diplomatic channels between Nigerian and South African governments in the spirit of African brotherhood.”
While reiterating the airlines’ commitment to Nigeria, he recalled that Ethiopian Airlines had served the people for the past 57 years and had proved to be a partner in progress.
Though Begashaw cited the airlines commitment to Nigeria when only Ethiopian Airline agreed to fly to Kaduna as other foreign airlines refused to do so, aviation analysts linked Ethiopian Airlines decision not to dump Kaduna to the volume of tourists coming from East and South Africa to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos.
