The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has summoned 13 domestic airlines to an emergency meeting over the rising wave of flight delays and cancellations affecting passengers nationwide.
The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday at the NCAA headquarters in Abuja, was confirmed by the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his X handle on Tuesday.
According to Achimugu, the intervention follows mounting complaints from air travelers and a spike in unruly passenger behavior at airports, incidents NCAA attributes partly to poor airline compliance with aviation rules.
He disclosed that the discussions would cover a range of critical issues, including: Persistent flight delays and cancellations; passenger handling protocols and welfare obligations, unresolved refund and compensation complaints, enforcement of safety directives such as phone switch-off rules, protection for cabin crew and NCAA officials and introduction of RFID baggage tagging and real-time flight monitoring technology
The development comes barely 24 hours after the NCAA restated that airlines must comply with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, particularly Part 19, which mandates specific passenger rights during delays and cancellations. These include providing hotel accommodation for stranded travelers between 10:00pm and 4:00am.
The Authority also threatened to begin “naming and shaming” airlines that repeatedly violate aviation rules, especially those that cancel flights late at night without making provisions for passenger welfare.
Achimugu warned that such practices not only inconvenience travelers but also expose NCAA consumer protection officers to unnecessary risks when dealing with agitated passengers.
He said: “For infractions that are sanctionable, the Authority will apply the fullest measures possible. We will not abandon the letters of our regulations.”
While acknowledging the operational challenges faced by domestic carriers, Achimugu emphasized that operators must meet expected standards if they want to be regarded as world-class.
