National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, NANTA, has demanded that foreign airlines still selling tickets in dollars must end the practice, saying with the Naira recently stabilising, it is no longer justifiable.
President of NANTA, Mr Yinka Folami, lamented that the sale of tickets in foreign currency still excluded 70 per cent of NANTA-certified members from direct trade with airlines despite their professional qualifications and compliance with global standards.
Speaking on Creative Nigeria, a Mainland 98.3 FM programme, he, however, commended government for working to address the underlying challenges in the sector, saying stakeholders in the aviation and travel sectors must complement government efforts through proactive collaboration.
He said: “The issue of airlines’ city sales offices is being squarely addressed by government. On dollar, the outlook for Nigeria is stable, and even the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, IMF, have commended the economic policies of this government. The gap between the official and parallel market rates is closing, liquidity has improved and there is more transparency in the process.
Ad“There is no need for some of these airlines anymore to sell in dollars. If government is making gains at the micro level, how do we translate it to benefits for Nigerians?
“I will look at dollar sales from a socio-economic point of view. Dollar sales exclude 70 per cent of our members that are NANTA-certified and International Air Transport Association, IATA-certified from direct trade with these airlines.
“It is a responsibility for all industry players to make sure that the decisions and actions that we take align with the economic recovery process and direction of government.”
On Airline Debit Memos, ADMs, he blamed the technological inefficiencies of some carriers, saying while some were getting it right, others had not.
ADMs are fees that airlines charge travel agents for errors made during the booking process.
He said: “In my view, there are a lot of ADMs that are as a result of airlines’ technological inefficiencies. I say technology inefficiencies because many airlines have got it right, but some have not.
“Second, government listens and we are bringing this information to government’s attention.
“We have had situations in our market where ADMs have gone as high as $200,000 for a business. That is no longer a business, it is becoming a revenue stream.”
(Vanguard)
