The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has reported that Air Peace and Aero Contractors refunded the airfares of thousands of passengers, totaling millions of naira, in 2024 due to cancelled and delayed flights.
The regulator noted that Air Peace compensated 1,901 passengers in November 2024 for delays, cancellations, and cabin class downgrades, while Aero Contractors refunded over 20 passengers throughout the year.
This was disclosed in a report signed by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu via its official X account on Monday.
The report stated that business class downgrades made up the largest portion of compensation for Air Peace, with the airline offering a 65 percent discount to each affected passenger.
The report also mentioned that Air Peace compensated passengers for unscheduled maintenance, technical issues, operational reasons, and aircraft swaps, among other factors.
On November 16, 2024, the agency reported that the airline recorded the highest passenger traffic of 129 on flight 7170 from Lagos to Benin City, offering a 25 percent discount due to operational issues.
On November 4, 2024, a similar compensation was provided to 117 passengers on flight 7425, which was scheduled to travel from Kano to Abuja.
Speaking, Achimugu promised to provide more information as additional details emerge, stating that the NCAA released the figures to assure passengers and industry stakeholders that airlines in Nigeria do pay compensations.
He further stated that publishing the compensations was the NCAA’s way of highlighting its efforts and the work it is doing.
He said, “This is to the CRDCU (Central Result Delivery Coordination Unit) headed by Hadiza Bala Usman because they have to assess the work that we do. We have found out that people think the compensations that we talk about are not authentic.
“That is why we are putting facts and figures together. It is an attempt by the NCAA to be transparent and also to make the public as well as other instrumentality of government aware of this. This will also let stakeholders know that the NCAA is working and airlines in Nigeria actually pay compensation.
“People come online to make viral videos but when the NCAA resolves those issues, they don’t come back to say this particular issue has been resolved. So we would start blowing our own trumpets now and that is what we are doing.”
