The Acting Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo, has announced a new policy starting in January 2024.
Under this policy, airlines that are responsible for delayed passengers or actions that lead to flight delays or cancellations will be required to give affected travellers a 25% discount on their next flight with the same airline.
Najomo shared this information during a meeting with aviation stakeholders in Lagos. He emphasised that the NCAA is committed to implementing decisions that will improve consumer protection and airport certification in the aviation industry.
While acknowledging that some factors causing flight delays or cancellations are beyond the control of airlines, Najomo assured that the regulatory body is actively working to address these issues internally and improve the overall experience of air travel for passengers.
He said, “The airlines are biting more than they can chew. Lack of planning is causing some of the delays we are experiencing. Some airlines for instance have less than four aircraft, and they want to fly all the routes. That is not possible because four aircraft capacity cannot sustain the type of operations you are doing.”
“Some of the delays and cancellations by Air Peace are because you want to go everywhere when there may not be adequate aircraft to cover that volume of operations.”
Capt. Najomo also mentioned that a policy will be created to ensure that state-owned airports are operated by state governments for at least five years before being transferred to the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
He emphasised that out of the 32 airports in the country, only about six are economically profitable, which include Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, Port-Harcourt International Airport, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, and Owerri Airport.
Najomo stressed the need for regulatory authorities to allocate the revenue generated from the four profitable terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano to support operations in other airports managed by FAAN.
