The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has instructed Air Peace to compensate 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 poor customer service after his Lagos-Enugu flight was delayed till the evening.
Effiong said in a post on X on Monday that the delay caused him to miss a scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.
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 lawyer said he became suspicious when the airline called only passengers who were meant to fly to Enugu and Owerri on Sunday, while those scheduled to depart on Monday were asked to wait.
“Apparently, they cancelled yesterday’s flight to Enugu,” he said.
He said the passengers were kept waiting for about an hour before airline staff announced that the flight had been delayed till 4:50pm.
Effiong accused Air Peace’s of taking passengers “for granted endlessly” on account of the airline’s large fleet and its occasional role in repatriating stranded Nigerians.
Responding to Effiong’s post via X, Achimugu said the authority could not be described as incapable simply because a passenger’s flight was disrupted.
“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.
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.
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 message sent out was the one you received, and that it was done in error,” Achimugu said.
