The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has directed Air Peace to compensate passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight on Monday.
The directive followed a preliminary investigation by the aviation regulator, which found that the airline had sent passengers an incorrect notification regarding the flight.
The development followed a complaint by human rights activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who accused Air Peace of irresponsibility and impunity after his Lagos-Enugu flight was delayed until the evening.
Effiong said in a post on X on Monday that the delay would cause him to miss a scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.
Effiong had earlier demanded an apology and a fare refund in his Twitter post.
Effiong explained that he arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50 am to join the airline’s 6:45 am 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 4:50 pm.
Effiong accused Air Peace of taking passengers “for granted endlessly” on account of the airline’s large fleet and its occasional role in repatriating stranded Nigerians.
However, the NCAA, through its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said it would investigate the disruption and rejected Effiong’s claim that the regulator was incapable of holding the airline accountable.
Responding to Effiong’s post on X, Achimugu said the authority could not be described as incapable simply because a passenger’s flight had been 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 due to the ripple effects 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.
Before the latest dispute, the NCAA’s August 2026 disruption report stated that 15 domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights, with 4,765 delayed and 36 cancelled. Air Peace was recorded as having 1,330 delays out of 1,864 flights, representing 71.4 per cent.
Air Peace, however, disputed the figures, saying it actually operated 2,564 flights during the month — more than 700 above the NCAA’s recorded figure.
The airline also said its internal review showed that only 391 delays, or about 15 per cent, were attributable to factors within its control, while the majority resulted from external factors including airport congestion, industrial action, weather and bird strikes.
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