The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed Air Peace to compensate passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight after an investigation found that the airline sent passengers an incorrect notification.
The development followed a complaint by human rights lawyer and activist Inibehe Effiong, whose Monday morning flight from Lagos to Enugu was delayed until the evening.
Effiong said the delay threatened to disrupt his scheduled court appearance in Enugu State. He had arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50am for the airline’s 6:45am flight after checking in the previous night.
According to Effiong, passengers scheduled to fly to Enugu and Owerri were kept waiting before airline officials announced that the Enugu flight had been delayed until 4:50pm.
He subsequently demanded an apology and refund from Air Peace, accusing the airline of treating passengers unfairly.
The NCAA said it would investigate the disruption. Its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, also rejected claims that the regulator was unable to hold airlines accountable.
Following the investigation, Achimugu said the disruption was linked to the ripple effects of disruptions experienced on Sunday night.
He said an Air Peace senior management official initially claimed passengers had been informed about the disruption. However, Effiong provided the NCAA with a screenshot showing that the message he received instructed passengers to arrive early for the flight.
Achimugu later confirmed that the notification had been sent in error.
“The Station Manager and Duty Manager have confirmed that the message sent out was the one you received, and that it was done in error,” he said.
The NCAA subsequently directed Air Peace to compensate the affected passengers.
The dispute comes amid an ongoing disagreement between the regulator and Air Peace over flight disruption figures.
The NCAA’s August 2026 report stated that 15 domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights, of which 4,765 were delayed and 36 cancelled.
Air Peace was recorded as having 1,330 delays from 1,864 flights, representing 71.4 per cent.
Air Peace disputed the figures, saying it operated 2,564 flights during the month. The airline said its internal review found that only 391 delays, or about 15 per cent, were caused by factors within its control.
The airline attributed most of the disruptions to external factors, including airport congestion, industrial action, weather conditions and bird strikes.
