The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed Air Peace to compensate passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight after finding that the airline sent them an incorrect notification about the journey.
The directive followed a complaint by human rights activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who accused the airline of irresponsibility after his scheduled morning flight was delayed until the evening.
Effiong said the disruption could cause him to miss a court appearance in Enugu State and had demanded an apology and refund from the airline.
He said he arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50 am for the scheduled 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.
Effiong said he became suspicious after airline officials contacted passengers scheduled to travel to Enugu and Owerri on Sunday, while those booked for Monday were asked to wait.
“Apparently, they cancelled yesterday’s flight to Enugu,” he said.
According to the lawyer, passengers were kept waiting for about an hour before being informed that the flight had been moved to 4:50 pm.
Effiong accused the airline of taking passengers “for granted endlessly”, citing its large fleet and occasional role in repatriating stranded Nigerians.
The NCAA, through its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said it would investigate the disruption and rejected the suggestion that the regulator could not hold 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 preliminary investigation, Achimugu told Effiong that the flight disruption was linked to the ripple effects of disruptions on Sunday night.
He said an airline management official had claimed that passengers were informed, but Effiong produced a screenshot of the message he received, which asked passengers to report early for the flight.
“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.
The NCAA’s August 2026 flight disruption report recorded 4,765 delays and 36 cancellations out of 7,961 domestic flights operated by 15 airlines.
Air Peace accounted for 1,330 delays from 1,864 flights recorded by the regulator, representing 71.4 per cent.
The airline disputed the figures, saying it operated 2,564 flights during the month, more than 700 above the NCAA’s recorded total.
Air Peace also said its internal review showed that only 391 delays, or about 15 per cent, were caused by factors within its control, while other disruptions were attributed to factors including airport congestion, industrial action, weather and bird strikes.
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