The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed Air Peace to prepare a compensation package for passengers affected by a severely delayed Lagos-Enugu flight after a preliminary investigation found that the airline issued an incorrect notification about the service.
The directive followed the disruption of the Air Peace flight scheduled to leave Lagos for Enugu at 6:45am on Monday, September 21, 2026. Passengers were subsequently informed that the flight had been moved to 4:50pm, creating a delay of several hours.
The aviation regulator said its preliminary findings showed that passengers had received a message instructing them to report for the original flight despite the rescheduling.
The intervention followed a complaint by lawyer and human rights activist Inibehe Effiong, who said the disruption threatened his attendance at a scheduled court hearing in Enugu.
The NCAA said the airline must comply with passenger-protection requirements and provide compensation for affected travellers.
The regulator’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said the authority investigated the complaint after Effiong brought the disruption to its attention.
According to the NCAA, Air Peace’s station and duty managers acknowledged that the message sent to passengers was issued in error.
The regulator said the airline should have informed travellers about the revised schedule instead of directing them to the airport for a flight that was no longer expected to operate at the original time.
The NCAA also said the disruption was linked to a knock-on effect from operational problems experienced by the airline the previous night.
Achimugu said the airline had claimed it arranged hotel accommodation and care for affected passengers while they waited for the rescheduled flight, although the NCAA said it was still verifying that aspect of the airline’s response.
The regulator’s findings place the focus not only on the lengthy delay but also on how the airline communicated the disruption to passengers.
What the NCAA Said Went Wrong
The regulator identified several issues surrounding the incident:
- The Lagos-Enugu service was significantly rescheduled.
- Passengers received an incorrect notification about the flight.
- The airline’s managers acknowledged that the notification was sent in error.
- The NCAA directed Air Peace to prepare a compensation package.
- The regulator stressed the importance of timely and accurate information to passengers.
The NCAA said the erroneous notification did not amount to a force-majeure event and therefore could not simply be treated as an unavoidable operational circumstance.
The compensation directive comes as Air Peace faces heightened scrutiny over its reported flight disruption figures.
The NCAA’s August 2026 domestic aviation statistics showed that 15 airlines operated 7,961 flights during the month, with 4,765 experiencing delays and 36 cancellations.
Air Peace was listed as having 1,330 delayed flights out of 1,864 operations, representing 71.4 per cent of the flights recorded in the regulator’s dataset.
Air Peace, however, disputed those figures and said the NCAA’s data did not accurately represent its operations. The airline said it operated 2,564 flights during August, rather than the 1,864 recorded by the regulator, and argued that many delays resulted from factors outside its direct control.
The airline cited issues including airport congestion, weather, bird strikes, airport-facility failures and other external disruptions among the causes of delays.
That disagreement is separate from the Lagos-Enugu incident, but it provides important context for the current dispute between the airline and aviation regulator.
The NCAA’s consumer-protection guidance sets out specific rights for passengers affected by domestic flight disruptions.
For domestic flights, the authority says passengers are entitled to refreshments after two hours of delay. Where a delay exceeds three hours, the NCAA’s published guidance states that the carrier should reimburse passengers the full value of their tickets.
Passengers whose flights are cancelled also have defined protections. The NCAA says domestic passengers are generally entitled to compensation equivalent to 25 per cent of the fare, subject to the applicable notice provisions, as well as reimbursement of the ticket value.
The current Air Peace case, however, involves a delayed and rescheduled flight and the regulator’s finding that passengers received incorrect information.
The NCAA has therefore asked the airline to submit a compensation proposal rather than immediately announcing a fixed payment for every affected passenger.
Achimugu said the regulator would not automatically impose sanctions every time an airline experiences a disruption because the applicable rules determine when penalties are appropriate.
However, he warned that the situation could attract stronger regulatory action if Air Peace failed to provide the required compensation and duty of care to the affected passengers.
The NCAA’s approach places emphasis on both passenger welfare and compliance with aviation regulations.
The regulator has also urged airlines to maintain adequate operational buffers to minimise the effect of disruptions on subsequent flights.
The immediate next step is for Air Peace to develop and communicate its compensation package to the NCAA.
The regulator will then assess the airline’s response against the applicable passenger-protection requirements.
For travellers, the case highlights the importance of retaining evidence when a flight disruption occurs, particularly where an airline’s communication conflicts with the actual flight status.
Passengers can first complain directly to their airline. If the matter is not resolved, the NCAA allows travellers to submit complaints through its Consumer Protection Department, including supporting documents such as flight details, tickets, boarding passes and receipts.
The Air Peace case also underscores a broader challenge facing Nigeria’s aviation industry: reducing flight disruptions while ensuring that passengers receive accurate information and appropriate care when delays occur.
For the affected Lagos-Enugu passengers, the focus now shifts to whether Air Peace will provide the compensation and assistance directed by the regulator and how quickly the matter will be resolved.
