Air Peace to Compensate Passengers for Delayed Lagos-Enugu Flight

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered Air Peace to prepare compensation for passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight. This comes after the NCAA found that the airline sent the wrong notification about the flight disruption.

The flight was supposed to leave Lagos at 6:45 a.m. on Monday but was rescheduled to 4:50 p.m. This left passengers waiting at the Murtala Muhammed Airport for many hours.

The issue started when human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong complained. He said the delay made him miss a court appearance in Enugu State that morning.

Michael Achimugu, the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, said the disruption was due to issues from the night before. He added that Air Peace should have told passengers about the rescheduling of the Monday morning flight.

Mr Effiong arrived at Terminal One of Murtala Muhammed Airport around 5:50 a.m. to catch his flight. He had checked in the night before.

He was supposed to be in court in Enugu that morning for a case that was set to be heard. According to him, passengers waited for about an hour before airline staff announced that the flight had been delayed until 4:50 p.m.

Mr Effiong was also surprised when the airline sent another message at 2:01 a.m. telling passengers to report for the flight despite the delay.

He mentioned that because of the delay, he would miss his court appearance and incur extra transport costs and other expenses. He criticized the airline and aviation authorities for how they handled the situation.

Mr Effiong noted that NCAA data showed Air Peace had 1,330 delayed flights out of 1,864 flights listed for August.

Responding to Mr Effiong’s complaint on X, Mr Achimugu said the NCAA cannot step in before a disruption happens. But he encouraged passengers to report such issues to the authority.

He confirmed that the NCAA would look into the matter and recognized the inconvenience for passengers. Later, he explained that the investigation revealed that the Lagos-Enugu flight was affected by issues from the night before.

He added that the airline should have informed passengers about the schedule change. A senior Air Peace official initially said passengers were informed.

But after Mr Effiong shared a screenshot of the message he received, the airline’s station and duty managers admitted that the message sent was incorrect.

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

He noted that airline officials accepted that passengers should have been updated about the rescheduling. According to Mr Achimugu, Air Peace told the NCAA that affected passengers were taken to a hotel and would be cared for until boarding time. But he said the NCAA was still checking this claim.

Mr Achimugu mentioned that the NCAA told Air Peace to submit a compensation package for affected passengers, following Part 19 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023.

“Timely and honest information is key, and there was a gap in this regard,” he said. He added that sending the wrong notification is not a force majeure incident.

He explained that Air Peace could avoid penalties if it compensates affected passengers and meets its duty of care. But he warned that penalties could be imposed if the airline fails to comply.

Mr Achimugu emphasized that penalties are not automatically applied after every flight disruption. The rules determine when and how penalties apply. Under Part 19, airlines must inform passengers of the reasons for a delay within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure. The regulations also require refreshments and communication help after two hours, reimbursement or rerouting after three hours, and hotel accommodation and transport when delays are from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. or when the airport is closed.

Lastly, the regulations state that passengers are entitled to at least 25 percent of the fare for eligible domestic cancellations, subject to the rules' conditions.