NCAA Directs Air Peace to Compensate Passengers Over Delayed Lagos-Enugu Flight

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed Air Peace to prepare a compensation package for passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight after its preliminary investigation found that the airline sent passengers an incorrect notification about the flight.

The directive followed a complaint by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who said the delay caused him to miss a scheduled court appearance in Enugu.

Effiong said he arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50 a.m. on Monday to board a 6:45 a.m. Air Peace flight after checking in the previous night.

According to him, passengers were kept waiting before being informed that the flight had been delayed until 4:50 p.m. He also questioned why passengers had received an early-morning reminder instructing them to report for a flight that had already been disrupted.

The NCAA's Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, initially said the regulator would investigate the complaint.

Following the preliminary investigation, Achimugu said the flight disruption resulted from the ripple effects of disruptions that occurred on Sunday night.

He said Air Peace should nevertheless have informed passengers scheduled to travel on Monday morning that their flight had been rescheduled.

According to Achimugu, the airline's station and duty managers confirmed that the notification received by Effiong had been sent in error.

“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 subsequently directed Air Peace, under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023, to prepare a compensation package for the affected passengers and notify the regulator of the arrangement.

Achimugu said the airline would not face sanctions if it provided the required compensation and duty of care, but warned that sanctions would follow if it failed to comply.

The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of flight disruptions in Nigeria. The NCAA's August 2026 report recorded 4,765 delayed flights and 36 cancellations across 15 domestic airlines. Air Peace was listed with 1,330 delays out of 1,864 flights in the regulator's dataset.

Air Peace has disputed those figures, saying it operated 2,564 flights in August and that the NCAA's dataset omitted more than 700 flights. The airline also said only 391 of its delays were caused by internal operational factors, with the remainder linked to factors including airport congestion, weather, industrial action and other external disruptions.

The NCAA has continued to emphasise airlines' obligations to communicate disruptions promptly and comply with passenger-protection requirements.