The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed Air Peace to compensate passengers affected by a delayed Lagos-Enugu flight on Monday.
The directive followed a preliminary investigation by the aviation regulator, which found that the airline sent passengers an incorrect notification concerning the flight.
The development followed a complaint by human rights activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who accused Air Peace of irresponsibility and impunity after his Lagos-Enugu flight was delayed until the evening.
Effiong said in a post on X on Monday that the delay would cause him to miss a scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.
He had earlier demanded an apology and a refund of his fare.
Effiong said he arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50 am to board the airline’s 6:45 am flight, having completed his check-in the previous night.
“I am scheduled to appear in court in Enugu State this morning for a case that is slated for definite hearing,” he said.
The lawyer said he became suspicious after the airline contacted only passengers scheduled to travel to Enugu and Owerri on Sunday, while those booked for Monday’s flights were asked to wait.
“Apparently, they cancelled yesterday’s flight to Enugu,” he said.
He said passengers were kept waiting for about an hour before airline officials announced that the flight had been rescheduled for 4:50 pm.
Effiong accused Air Peace of taking passengers “for granted endlessly” because of its large fleet and its occasional role in repatriating stranded Nigerians.
However, the NCAA, through its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said it would investigate the disruption and rejected Effiong’s claim that the regulator was incapable of holding the airline accountable.
“The NCAA cannot treat cases in advance. It is not a miracle centre and cannot tell that a disruption would happen BEFORE it happens. When it does happen, you report to the NCAA,” Achimugu said.
In a follow-up response to Effiong after the investigation, Achimugu said the disruption resulted from the ripple effects of disruptions recorded on Sunday night.
Achimugu said a senior management official of the airline claimed passengers had been informed, but Effiong disputed this, saying the notification he received instructed passengers to arrive early for the flight. The lawyer had provided the NCAA with a screenshot of the message.
“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,” Achimugu said.
The NCAA’s August 2026 disruption report had earlier 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 out of 1,864 flights, representing 71.4 per cent.
The airline, however, disputed the figures, saying it operated 2,564 flights during the month, more than 700 above the number recorded by the NCAA.
Air Peace also said its internal review found that only 391 delays, representing about 15 per cent, were caused by factors within its control.
According to the airline, most of the disruptions resulted from external factors, including airport congestion, industrial action, weather conditions and bird strikes.