NCAA orders Air Peace to compensate passengers over delayed flight

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has directed Air Peace to come up with a compensation package for passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight on Monday, after its preliminary investigation found that the airline sent them the wrong notification.

A human rights activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, had accused Air Peace of irresponsibility and impunity after his Lagos-Enugu flight was delayed till the evening.

The NCAA, through its Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, however, said it would look into the disruption, while rejecting his claim that the regulator is incapable of tackling the airline.

Effiong explained that he arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50am to join the airline’s 6:45am flight, having checked in the previous night.

“I am scheduled to appear in court in Enugu State this morning for a case that is slated for definite hearing,” he said.

The attorney expressed concern when the airline contacted exclusively passengers scheduled to travel to Enugu and Owerri on Sunday, while instructing those booked for Monday departure to remain on standby.

"It appears they cancelled the previous day's Enugu flight," he remarked.

According to his account, passengers were held in a waiting period lasting approximately one hour before airline representatives announced a postponement until 4:50pm.

Effiong further asserted that Air Peace transmitted an additional notification to passengers at 2:01am on Monday, notwithstanding their awareness that the flight would not proceed according to the original schedule.

He indicated that he encountered two additional legal professionals who were passengers on the identical flight, with one also having a court proceeding scheduled in Enugu that morning. He noted that the two competing airlines servicing that route, United Nigeria and Enugu Air, offered only afternoon departures.

"I forfeited restful sleep, expended funds on transportation arrangements and taxi services (notably, I had already reserved my return journey with United Nigeria scheduled for 3:20 PM today), and I will be unable to attend a critical judicial hearing," he stated.

Effiong attributed Air Peace's conduct to treating passengers "with persistent disregard" due to the airline's extensive aircraft inventory and its periodic involvement in repatriating displaced Nigerians.

He additionally criticized the aviation regulatory bodies.

"The aviation sector's regulatory authorities are complicit in Air Peace's disregard for regulations. The Aviation Minister, @fkeyamo, has engaged in promotional activities for this airline rather than enforcing accountability. @NigeriaCAA and @FAAN_Official have demonstrated their inability to address this airline's misconduct," he stated.

Referencing NCAA statistics, he noted that Air Peace postponed 71 per cent of its operations in August 2026, with 1,330 delays occurring among 1,864 scheduled flights, and emphasized that "disciplinary measures were not implemented."

"No nation committed to economic advancement would tolerate such operational failure," he concluded.

In response to Effiong's statement via X, Achimugu contended that the authority could not be characterized as ineffective merely because one passenger experienced flight disruption.

“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.

He expressed empathy with Effiong, adding, “This is not how we want the industry to be.”

Achimugu said the NCAA would investigate the disruption and that, from Effiong’s account, it appeared to be a “ripple effect from yesterday’s disruption.”

“Just last week, we urged the airline to ensure to have a buffer aircraft to mitigate extreme disruptions, especially given recent events. I will reach out to them and find out what happened,” he said.

In a follow-up message to Effiong after the investigation, Achimugu said the flight was disrupted because of the ripple effect of Sunday night’s disruptions.

He said the airline ought to have notified passengers scheduled to fly that morning that the flight had been rescheduled.

Achimugu said a senior management staff of the airline claimed the passengers were informed, but Effiong countered that the notification he received asked passengers to come early for the flight. The lawyer had sent the NCAA a screenshot of the message.

“The Station Manager and Duty Manager have confirmed that the messages sent out was the one you received, and that it was done in error,” Achimugu said.

He added that both officials admitted that passengers on the flight should have been told about the reschedule.