Tuesday, September 9, 2025 - The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has summoned all domestic airlines to a meeting in Abuja over recent flight disruptions.
The Director of Public Relations and Consumer Protection,
Michael Achimugu, disclosed this on his verified X handle this morning. He said
the meeting will be held in the NCAA headquarters.
‘’The NCAA
has invited all domestic airlines to a meeting in Abuja slated for tomorrow,
Wednesday.
Among the
issues to be treated are:
1. Unruly
passenger behaviour and passenger handling protocols.
2.
Unresolved refund/compensation issues.
3.
Introduction of RFID bagtags and flight monitoring technology.
4.
Enforcement of phone switch-off instruction and protection for cabin crew.
5. Improved
travel experience for passengers.
The meeting
will be live on the NCAA's official social media handles (X and Facebook). To
keep abreast, kindly follow
@NigeriaCAA''
This is coming barely 24 hours after Achimugu said the
regulatory authority had the mandate of the federal government “to begin naming
and shaming” airlines that delay and cancel flights especially at odd hours
without providing the right comfort for the stranded passengers as stipulated
in Part 19 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations.
In an X post, he stated that when airlines cancel flights
without taking care of the welfare of passengers, they expose the NCAA’s
consumer protection officers to danger.
Achimugu explained that if airline keeps their passengers at
the terminal up to 00hrs before cancelling a flight, the airline owes the
passengers hotel accommodation.
He wrote: “The regulations stipulate that passengers
stranded between the hours of 2200 and 0400 be given accommodation.
“The situation where airline staff intentionally disappear,
leaving NCAA Consumer Protection Officers to handle justifiably irate and
frustrated passengers will no longer be tolerated.
“While one understands the challenges that operators face in
our peculiar operating environment, whoever willfully ventures into a business
and wants to remain in it must do it well.
“We must not always choose the easy way out. Don’t you want
to be called “world class”? Don’t you want to compete at the highest level? If
not for the sake of the passengers who trust you to safely fly them, what about
for your own pride?”
He reiterated that the airline should stop exposing NCAA
officials “to avoidable risk when all they do is support your business and
protect your rights.”
“For infractions that are sanctionable, the Authority will
apply the fullest measures possible. We will not abandon the letters of our
regulations.
“The federal government has instructed that airlines be
named and shamed by the NCAA. While we have done our best to advise per
solutions to flight disruptions and why not nearly all cases are the fault of
the airlines, the NCAA expects that operators must comply with the regulations
in the event of a disruption.
“In compliance with the directives from the federal
government and the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development,
the naming and shaming will commence,” Achimugu added.
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