Airlines to compensate passengers for delayed, cancelled flights soon, says Minister

The Nigerian Government has declared that domestic airlines will soon be compelled to compensate passengers for incessant delays and cancellations of flights, which has become rampant across airports in the country.

Penpushing reports that Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, made this known on Monday while speaking on flight disruption challenges during a meeting with the officials of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

The Minister who observed incessant delays and cancellations of flights emphasized that the regulators will begin to implement the provision of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Act that mandates airlines to compensate passengers for delays/cancellations of flight schedules caused by the airlines.

“So, you see, after some time, we will start implementing the provisions of the NCAA Act. You know, Nigerians don’t know there is compensation for delay. If it is an act of God, you cannot pay. But if it is human fault, the NCAA Act says you will pay’, Keyamo said.

Penpushing further reports that he pointed out that airline operators are expected to pay customers for flight delays and cancellations, stressing that it is high time for travellers to start claiming their rights in this regard

“After some time, I will put my feet on the ground. Pay them when you delay, cancel their flight. I know you (the airline operators) have said all your reasons. You have blamed the government and a few things we do. But I also want to say that it is not all that is the government’, Keyamo added.

‘At times, you say you were waiting for passengers to finish passing through the screening machine. At times, they have finished passing through screening machines. They are waiting in the lounge for five hours and you cancel your flight’, he noted

Penpushing also reports that the Minister disclosed that the government will soon begin the implementation of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Act to seek justice for Nigerians.

The Chief Executive Officer of Topbrass Aviation, Roland Iyati, while speaking on behalf of the group during his presentation to the Minister called for urgent support from the government to address challenges bedevilling airline operations in the country.

Penpushing reports that he said forex scarcity has become a major challenge for their operations in the country and called for the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and urged the Nigerian government to establish and provide a dedicated support line for domestic airline operators to have unfettered access to foreign exchange through the apex bank at the official I&E window.

The Chief Executive Officer speaking on aviation fuel, said there is an urgent need to facilitate the liberalisation, procurement and distribution of Jet-A1 nationwide and that the government should allow AON to procure the requisite licence for product importation and distribution, and equally called for the immediate review of all industry taxes, fees and charges to determine applicability in line with the cost recovery model.

Penpushing further reports that records have it that, as a result of weak regulation, many Nigerians have been victims of flight delays and cancellations across airports in Nigeria., and data from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) last year showed that domestic airlines had 47,144 flights delayed, with Airpeace, Overland Airways, and Azman Air recording the highest.

The records in same vein, revealed that within the first quarter of this year, over half of the domestic flights in Nigeria between January and March were delayed, according to an official report by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) titled “Executive Summary on International and Domestic Flight Operations”

Penpushing also reports that of the total 18,288 domestic flights within the period, 10,128 were delayed 9about 55 per cent), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) noted in the report, which further laid credence to the complaints of travellers about incessant flight delays in the country’s airports.

The Vice President of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in his remarks lamented that foreign airlines have been given preferential treatment in terms of intra-city operations which is not in line with international standards.

‘Air Peace flies to Mumbai in India but up till date they haven’t granted our request to fly to New Delhi because they don’t permit inter-city hoping and this is the practice almost everywhere around the world, but it is shocking that it is only in Nigeria that international airlines are allowed to drop passengers in Port Harcourt then come to Lagos and Abuja. It is not practised anywhere and must be stopped,” he said.

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