The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Air Peace are at odds over the regulator's August 2026 flight disruption report. The NCAA's monthly scorecard showed that domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights in August, with 4,765 delayed and 36 cancelled. Only 3,196 flights, or about 40.1 per cent, departed on schedule, while 60.3 per cent experienced delays or cancellations.
Air Peace, Nigeria's largest domestic carrier by flight volume, has rejected the figures, alleging that the regulator undercounted its operations and failed to distinguish between delays caused by the airline and those arising from external factors. The airline said it operated 2,564 flights in August, not 1,864 as recorded by the NCAA, a difference of 700 flights.
The NCAA reported that 15 domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights in August, with 4,765, or 59.9 per cent, delayed, and 36 flights, or 0.45 per cent, cancelled. Most delays were relatively short, with 58.8 per cent lasting between 16 minutes and one hour, and 27.7 per cent lasting between one and two hours.
At airline level, United Nigeria Airlines recorded a 76.6 per cent delay rate, with 943 of its 1,231 flights delayed. Air Peace followed with a reported 71.4 per cent, after 1,330 of its 1,864 flights were classified as delayed. Enugu Air recorded a 66.3 per cent delay rate, while ValueJet was put at 62.5 per cent.
Air Peace argued that the omitted flights were fully operational and that leaving them out of the denominator inflated the delay percentage attributed to the carrier. The airline therefore rejected the NCAA's reported 71.4 per cent delay rate and said only 15 per cent of its flights were delayed for reasons within its control.
Aviation investment specialist Sindy Foster has drawn attention to inconsistencies in the NCAA's 2026 second-quarter flight disruption report, suggesting that the problem may extend beyond the figures attributed to Air Peace in the August publication. Foster observed discrepancies in the "Total Flights Operated" figures between the executive summary and detailed tables.
The dispute raises questions about the quality, consistency, and methodology of the data used to assess airline performance in Nigeria. The controversy goes beyond whether Air Peace delayed 15 per cent, 71.4 per cent or another proportion of its flights, and passengers want to know if the statistics accurately describe what happened to their journeys.
Key points
- The NCAA and Air Peace disagree over the number of flights operated by the airline in August.
- Air Peace argues that the NCAA's figures inflate its delay percentage.
- The dispute raises questions about the quality and consistency of Nigeria's domestic air travel statistics.
