The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has directed Air Peace to compensate passengers affected by the disruption of its Lagos-Enugu flight on Monday, September 21, 2026, after finding that the airline issued an erroneous notification about the service.
The flight was scheduled to leave Lagos at 6:45am but was rescheduled to 4:50pm, leaving passengers waiting at the Murtala Muhammed Airport for several hours.
The incident was brought to the NCAA’s attention by lawyer and human rights activist, Inibehe Effiong, who said the delay threatened his appearance at a scheduled court hearing in Enugu.
Effiong said he arrived at Terminal One around 5:50am after checking in the previous night. He also questioned a 2:01am reminder directing passengers to report for the flight despite the subsequent change to the schedule.
The NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, initially linked the disruption to operational problems experienced by Air Peace the previous night.
Following its investigation, however, the regulator established that the passenger notification had been sent by Air Peace in error.
Achimugu said the airline’s station and duty managers confirmed that the message received by passengers originated from the carrier but was mistakenly issued.
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The NCAA consequently directed Air Peace to compensate the affected passengers in accordance with Part 19 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023.
Achimugu said airlines must provide passengers with accurate and timely information when flight arrangements change, adding that the erroneous notification could not be classified as a force majeure event.
He said Air Peace reported that it had provided hotel accommodation and care for the affected passengers while they awaited departure, although the NCAA was verifying the claim.
The regulator said Air Peace could avoid sanctions by fulfilling its compensation and duty-of-care obligations, warning that further action could follow if it failed to comply.
The case comes amid continued regulatory scrutiny of passenger treatment in Nigeria’s aviation sector. In January 2025, the NCAA disclosed that Air Peace had compensated 220 passengers affected by disruptions recorded in November 2024.
Flight delays have also triggered litigation. In August 2026, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered Dana Air to pay N5m in damages and N500,000 in legal costs to a passenger over an 11-hour delay on an Abuja-Lagos flight in 2018.
Meanwhile, NCAA figures showed that 4,765 of 7,961 domestic flights recorded in August 2026 were delayed, while 36 were cancelled. Air Peace disputed the figures, saying more than 700 of its flights were omitted from the regulator’s computation.
The NCAA’s latest directive now requires Air Peace to address the affected passengers’ compensation and welfare under the applicable aviation regulations.