He said, apart from the five per cent fixed charge paid to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and the parking charges collected by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), 70 per cent of other charges paid by air travellers are usually more than the basic cost of the ticket.
Speaking at the official commissioning of NANTA's headquarter on Tuesday in Lagos, Akala said most of the charges paid by the airlines go into the coffers of foreign governments, adding that these charges are factored into the air tickets.
He said: "We have no say in the increase of ticket fares. If you look at your ticket, apart from the basic fare which you pay for, like security, fuel, insurance, then you pay to all the countries you over fly, those taxes go out of this country to foreign governments. The only thing that remains here is, apart from the five per cent fixed charge which goes to the government and the parking charges collected by FAAN, everything else on your ticket is usually more than the basic cost of the ticket. Sometime taxes can represent 70 per cent of the values you pay on your ticket."
Commenting on the newly built office of the association, Akala said the structure would afford the body the opportunity to carry out its activities more effectively, adding that it does need to move from one rented office to another.
He said the NANTA would ensure that other zones in the country have permanent places where members can easily go to an address issues bothering them, stating that it would soon have permanent offices in places like Kano, Ibadan and Port Harcourt.
Also at the event, National President of NANTA, Alhaji Aminu Agoha said it has always been the dream of the association to have its own office since it came into existence 39 years ago. He said the NANTA had not receive any subvention from the government in constructing the building adding that members of the association had raised the money for the building.
CAPTION: Arik Air Deputy Managing Director/Senior Vice President, Operations, Captain Ado Sanusi Arik Strengthens Dakar Route with Abuja, Accra Connections
Arik Air has extended its Abuja-Accra service to Dakar, Senegal from March 24, 2015. Similarly, the Lagos-Dakar service would be strengthened to six weekly flights with a new thrice weekly Lagos-Accra-Dakar service.
The airline said the Abuja-Accra-Dakar service, which was first introduced in February 2014 was suspended in the wake of the Ebola disease outbreak in July 2014. Though the Abuja-Accra service is daily, the extension to Dakar will operate thrice weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The Lagos-Accra-Dakar service departs Lagos at 7.50 pm (local time) and arrives in Accra at 7:50 pm (local time). The flight continues on to Dakar, departing Accra at 8:35 pm (local time) arriving in Dakar at 11:50 pm (local time). The inbound flight departs Dakar at 2:15 am (local time) and arrives in Accra at 5:30 am (local time). At 6:15 am, the flight departs Accra and arrives in Lagos at 8:15 am.
The Abuja-Accra flight retains its original schedule of 5:00 pm (local time) departure out of Abuja and 5:30 pm (local time) arrival in Accra. The inbound flight departs Accra at 6:00 am (local time) and arrives in Abuja at 8:50 pm (local time).
As a result of these developments, "Arik Air will be creating a scissors hub in Accra where passengers from Lagos and Abuja can connect direct to Dakar, Senegal. Also, Arik Air will be only carrier offering non-stop service to Dakar from Accra," the airline said.
Arik Air Deputy Managing Director/Senior Vice President, Operations, Captain Ado Sanusi said, "As the dominant commercial airline in West and Central Africa, Arik Air is always seeking to strengthen its services in the region to give guests comfort and value for money. We are ready to provide greater choice and a convenient, accessible network to our valued guests in the West Coast of Africa." FAAN Cautions Job Seekers against Fraudsters
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has warned that some fraudulent individuals are demanding that applicants to the recently advertised vacant positions in the agency pay money into some bank accounts in order to "influence" their employment into the Authority.
he Authority therefore informed the public, especially applicants to the said vacant positions that it does not demand money from any applicant to get employed.
"The current recruitment exercise is being done in the most transparent and orderly manner so we advise that nobody should pay any amount of money to any individual or company to get employed in the Authority," FAAN said in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate Communications of the agency, Yakubu Dati.
"We also advise that affected applicants should report such fraudulent proposition to the police as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria will not be held responsible for any fraudulent transaction in relation to the on-going recruitment exercise in the Authority.
"All employments will be based on merit as there are stipulated criteria for the recruitment into the Authority. This release became necessary following the arrest of one man by officers of our Aviation Security Service at the Murtala Muhammed Airport while he was handing over a forged letter of employment to an unsuspecting applicant. The suspect has since been handed over to the police at the airport," the statement said.
