NCAA: Air Peace compensated 1,901 passengers for flight delays in November 2024

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says Air Peace compensated 1,901 passengers in November 2024 for flight delays, cancellations, and cabin class downgrades.

Details of the act were captured in an NCAA report posted on X on Monday and signed by Michael Achimugu, the director of consumer protection and public affairs, on behalf of Chris Najomo, the director-general of the authority.

According to the report, business class downgrades accounted for the largest percentage of compensation, with the airline mostly offering a 65 percent discount on each downgrade.

The NCAA said Air Peace also compensated passengers for unscheduled maintenance, technical issues, operational reasons, aircraft swaps, and short-landed baggage.

On November 16, 2024, the agency said the airline recorded the highest passenger traffic (pax load) of 129 on flight 7170 from Lagos to Benin City, implementing a 25 percent discount as compensation for disruption over operational issues.

A similar compensation was made on November 4, 2024, to 117 passengers on flight 7425 scheduled to fly from Kano to Abuja.

Air Peace had increased airfares on all local routes by 100 percent in November 2024, months after the airline commenced its Lagos-London flight services.

‘AERO CONTRACTORS PASSENGER REJECTED N1.4M COMPENSATION’

In another statement, NCAA said in a letter dated May 20, 2024, Aero Contractors reported a passenger rejected a N1.42 million compensation offer from an insurance company for a Port Harcourt (PHC) to Lagos (LOS) flight.

According to the aviation authority, the matter is currently in court.

Also, the NCAA said in a letter dated March 3, 2024, it was informed by the airline that a passenger on an Abuja-Lagos flight rejected a business class return ticket offer and was later reimbursed N585,500 for his expenses.

In another letter dated February 20, 2024, Aero told the agency each passenger on a Lagos-Benin flight was compensated with economy class return tickets.

Similarly, in a letter dated December 27, 2024, the airline said each passenger on an Abuja-Lagos flight was compensated with one economy-class ticket.

Part of Aero’s compensation to passengers included eight economy class tickets, six economy class return tickets, and four business class return tickets.

On December 24, 2024, the NCAA initiated sanctions against five airlines, including two international and three domestic operators, for violating Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations of 2023.

Speaking to TheCable four days later, Achimugu said the airlines are fully aware of the regulatory process and their obligations.