The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced that passengers stranded between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. due to flight cancellations or delays were entitled to hotel accommodation at the airline’s expense.
The disclosure was made by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, in a post on his official X handle.
According to the NCAA spokesman, the situation where airline staff intentionally disappear, leaving NCAA Consumer Protection Officers to handle justifiably irate and frustrated passengers, will no longer be tolerated.
He, however, mentioned that the federal government has instructed that airlines be named and shamed by the NCAA.
“If an airline has kept passengers at the terminal up to 00hrs before cancelling a flight, they OWE their passengers hotel accommodation. 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?”
Achimugu stated that for sanctionable infractions, the Authority would henceforth apply the fullest measures possible.
“You cannot expose NCAA officials to avoidable risk when all they do is support your business and protect your rights.”
“For sanctionable infractions, 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 on solutions to flight disruptions and why 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,” he stated.
