Thirteen travel firms and their customers are prepared to confront Qatar Airways over the airline’s purported refusal to carry out N296 million in ticket refunds since 2022.
13 Hajj agents paid different amounts to the Qatar flag carrier for air tickets for the 2022 Hajj exercise, according to a document obtained by The PUNCH. However, the customers were unable to travel as scheduled since the Saudi Arabian Embassy did not grant visas to the intended pilgrims.
Our correspondent learned that a letter dated June 21, 2022 informed the Nigerian National Hajj Commission of the circumstance.
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The airline was apparently adamant about the reimbursement, so despite the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority getting involved on multiple occasions, their efforts had not yet paid off.
The overall cost of the ticket was N296,282,147, even after Al-Yusuf Travels, another travel agency, paid N43,874,024 to the airline in addition to the N252,408,123 that 12 other travel brokers paid for the disastrous trip.
Meeqat Travels and Tours, N19,028,269; Fatimoh Olabisi Travels, N15,018,014; Amami Global Links, N15,650,000; Light Upon Light Travels, N22,200,000; Albaratullahi Travels, N43,447,580; Olagunju Travels, N21,632,203; Bolade Travels, N31,804,720; Ashabul Yameen Travels, 15,990,727; Koki Travels, N20,664,000; New Crescent Travels, N27,740,070; Al Hidayah Travels, N11,520,000; and Niyyat Travels also paid N7,712,540.
Our correspondent’s research revealed that the airline’s upper management in Nigeria asserted that the approval of the reimbursement depended on the willingness of higher-ranking officials at the airline’s headquarters in Qatar.
Additionally, the law company requested an urgent refund of the ticket money at the clients’ request in a demand letter sent to the carrier by the attorney to the travel agency seen by our reporter.
In part, the lawsuit stated, “Our clients have informed us that on January 24, 2024, a resolution meeting was convened at the board room of Qatar Airways between the management of Qatar Airways and National Association of Nigeria Traveling Agencies, executives and our clients, whereof requests were made and same responded to by Qatar Airways management.”
“N252,408,123 (two hundred and fifty-two million, four hundred and eight thousand, one hundred and twenty-three naira alone) is the entire amount. This sum does not include the N43,874,024 air ticket that another operator, Al-YusufTravels, paid to your organization. This air ticket is the subject of a current lawsuit at the Federal High Court under suit number FCH/L/CS/2483/23.
“It is worthy to mention that since 2022 your organization has been foot-dragging and playing all forms of delay tactics that would warrant refusal of refund to the unused air ticket payments,” the statement continued, despite the intervention of the National Haji Commission of Nigeria and the President of the National Association of Nigeria Travelling Agencies for a swift resolution of this matter.
“It is equally within our brief that our clients logged a complaint of your ineptitude and utmost neglect of their plight in September 2023 at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Ikeja Lagos, while in October 2023 a meeting was called at the office of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Director General Dr Chris Najomo in which the Representatives of Qatar Airways (led by Mr Henry and others) were in attendance and our clients.”
One of the affected travel agents, who pleaded anonymity because he wasn’t officially empowered to speak on behalf of the concerned agents, noted that it was clear that the airline was not interested in refunding the money.
“By the actions and reactions of their representatives in Nigeria, they are not willing to pay us back except if something drastic, such as picketing is effected on them,” he stated.
Another agent, Fatai Tijani, who claimed to be at the forefront of the recovery fight, said that they were frustrated about the development.
Tijani, however, added that the airline was employing all forms of delay tactics to avoid the ticket refund.
He further said, “Through a meeting where we engaged with them on Friday, it was very glaring that they want to eat the money at all cost and trying to create the propaganda that it was because the tickets were not cancelled and that made them lose money when, in actual reality, all the flights were fully booked on the days concerned and the letter from the President of the National Hajj Commission stated that clearly.
“We are specifically instructing and pleading with them to refund our money to us for God’s sake!”
The coordinator of the affected agents, Kaseem Taoreed, expressed disappointment in the airline, describing the scenario as a clear disregard for the sovereignty and laws of Nigeria.
While speaking with our correspondent over the phone, Taoreed stated that the same scenario played out in Ghana but the airline immediately paid the concerned agents.
Taoreed added that some agents had been in and out of the police stations because the airline refused to make the refund.
His words, “We have discovered that Qatar Airways is only playing us. Meanwhile, the job that we do is commission-based, so for an airline to come up and say we would have to lose even the cost of the ticket that is an act of undermining the laws of the country where you are operating. In Ghana, the same thing happened and within a month, all the affected agencies were refunded in full by the same Qatar Airways in October 2022. Why is Nigeria an exception?
Taoreed, however, called on the Federal Government to help them retrieve their funds from the airline at any cost.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to step in and ensure that Qatar Airways pays us our money in full, using the current exchange rate. They should also be suspended from the Nigeria route because they had earlier been written by the Nigeria Hajj Commission but they still refused to pay. Some rules guide international trade, especially in the aviation industry. They are not the only ones involved but others paid,” he asserted.
David Odimegwu, a consultant for Qatar Airways, first begged for a 24-hour window to talk with the airline’s management in Doha, Qatar.
The consultant refused to reply even two days after the allotted 24 hours had passed and instead asked for an additional 24 hours.
Additionally, an email was sent to the airline’s headquarters demanding a statement on the subject; however, after a day, the airline did not respond.
