The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed Air Peace to compensate passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight.
The directive follows a preliminary investigation by the aviation regulator, which found that the airline mistakenly sent passengers an incorrect notification about the flight.
The case followed a complaint by human rights lawyer and activist Inibehe Effiong, who accused Air Peace of irresponsibility after his Lagos-Enugu flight was delayed until the evening.
Effiong said the delay could make him miss a scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.
He said he had checked in the previous night and arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, expecting to travel to Enugu.
“I am scheduled to appear in court in Enugu State this morning for a case that is slated for definite hearing,” Effiong said.
According to him, he became suspicious after airline staff called only passengers travelling to Enugu and Owerri, while passengers who were due to travel the previous day were asked to wait.
“Apparently, they cancelled yesterday’s flight to Enugu,” he said.
Effiong said passengers waited for about an hour before being informed that the flight had been delayed.
He later demanded an apology and a refund, accusing the airline of taking passengers “for granted endlessly”.
NCAA investigates complaint
The NCAA said it would investigate the disruption after Effiong raised the complaint on X.
The regulator’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, also rejected the lawyer’s suggestion that the authority was incapable of holding airlines accountable.
“The NCAA cannot treat cases in advance. It is not a miracle centre and cannot tell that a disruption would happen BEFORE it happens. When it does happen, you report to the NCAA,” Achimugu said.
After the investigation, Achimugu said the disruption resulted from the ripple effects of flight disruptions on Sunday night.
He said an Air Peace senior management official initially claimed passengers had been informed about the disruption.
However, Effiong provided the NCAA with a screenshot of the message he received, which instructed passengers to arrive early for the flight.
Achimugu later confirmed that the message had been sent in error.
“The Station Manager and Duty Manager have confirmed that the message sent out was the one you received, and that it was done in error,” he said.
The NCAA subsequently directed Air Peace to compensate the affected passengers.
NCAA, Air Peace dispute delay figures
The latest dispute comes amid an ongoing disagreement between the NCAA and Air Peace over flight disruption figures.
The NCAA’s previous monthly disruption report said 15 domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights, of which 4,765 were delayed and 36 cancelled.
Air Peace was recorded as having 1,330 delays out of 1,864 flights, representing 71.4 per cent.
The airline disputed the figures, saying it actually operated 2,564 flights during the month.
Air Peace said its internal review found that only 391 delays, or about 15 per cent, were caused by factors within its control.
It attributed most of the delays to external factors, including airport congestion, industrial action, bad weather and bird strikes.
