The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered Air Peace to prepare a compensation package for passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight. The flight, scheduled to depart Lagos at 6:45 a.m. on Monday, was rescheduled to 4:50 p.m., stranding passengers at Murtala Muhammed Airport for several hours. This followed a complaint by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who claimed the delay caused him to miss a scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.
According to Effiong, he arrived at Terminal One of Murtala Muhammed Airport at 5:50 a.m. to board the 6:45 a.m. Air Peace flight after checking in the previous night. He was due to appear in court in Enugu that morning for a case scheduled for a definite hearing. Passengers were kept waiting for about an hour before airline officials announced the flight had been delayed until 4:50 p.m. Effiong also questioned why the airline sent another reminder to passengers at 2:01 a.m. asking them to report for the flight despite the disruption.
The NCAA's Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said the disruption was linked to the ripple effects of the previous night's disruptions. However, he said Air Peace should have informed passengers booked on the Monday morning flight that it had been rescheduled. Achimugu said the regulator would investigate the matter and acknowledged the inconvenience caused to the passengers. The investigation showed that the Lagos-Enugu flight was affected by disruptions from the previous night.
Achimugu explained that a senior management official of Air Peace initially claimed that passengers had been informed. However, after Effiong shared a screenshot of the message he received, the airline's station and duty managers confirmed that the message sent to passengers was the one he received and that it had been sent in error. The Station Manager and Duty Manager confirmed that the messages sent out were the ones Effiong received and that it was done in error.
The NCAA has directed Air Peace to submit a compensation package for the affected passengers in line with Part 19 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023. Achimugu said timely and honest information is key, and there was a gap in this regard. He added that sending the wrong notification could not be treated as a force majeure incident. The airline would avoid sanctions if it provided the affected passengers with compensation and the required duty of care.
Under Part 19, which governs passengers' rights and airlines' obligations, domestic airlines must provide passengers with the reasons for a delay within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure time. The regulations also provide for refreshments and communication assistance after two hours, reimbursement or rerouting beyond three hours, and hotel accommodation and transport when a delay extends from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. or when the airport is closed.
The incident comes amid renewed concerns over flight disruptions in Nigeria. The NCAA's August 2026 report showed that 15 domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights during the month, of which 4,765 were delayed and 36 were cancelled. Air Peace was listed with 1,330 delayed flights out of 1,864 flights, representing 71.4 per cent of the flights recorded for the airline in the NCAA's dataset.
Key points
- Air Peace must provide compensation to passengers affected by the delayed Lagos-Enugu flight.
- The NCAA's investigation found that Air Peace sent passengers the wrong notification about the flight disruption.
- The incident highlights concerns over flight disruptions in Nigeria's aviation sector.
