Director General of Nigerian Tourism Development Commission (NTDC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe has decried the use of very old aircraft by some foreign carriers flying into the nation's airports. He warned that poor in-flight service aboard such aircraft could be a disservice to efforts by the government to sell the country as a tourism destination.
Runsewe also called on the regulatory authority, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to expedite action by calling the affected airlines to order. He referred to his recent experience on an Iberia Airlines flight between Madrid, Spain and Lagos that deployed an older aircraft on the route with no flight entertainment for the six hours flight for Nigerian passengers.
"I had an experience in Spain. The only airline that comes in directly is Iberia Airline. This airline uses 737-700 aircraft which of course is not very comfortable. If all of us could remember very well, that about two years ago, a very top official of the aviation industry accused Delta Airline of similar services and they quickly adjusted.
“So, it will be unacceptable for these people to continue to use them while between Paris and Spain they use Airbus 320 which is less than two hours to six hours flight. Some of these travelers find it difficult to travel on these flights due to unavailability of comfort.