The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has directed Air Peace to provide a compensation package for passengers affected by the delay of its Lagos-Enugu flight on Monday after a preliminary investigation found that the airline sent passengers an incorrect notification.

The NCAA also said the airline was expected to provide appropriate care to the affected passengers, warning that sanctions could follow if it failed to comply with the regulatory requirements.

The development followed a complaint by human rights activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who accused Air Peace of irresponsibility after his scheduled Lagos-Enugu flight was delayed until the evening.

Effiong, in a post on X on Monday, said the delay would prevent him from attending a scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.

The lawyer said he arrived at Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 5:50am to board the airline’s 6:45am flight, having checked 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,” Effiong said.

According to him, he became suspicious when the airline contacted only passengers scheduled to travel to Enugu and Owerri on Sunday, while passengers scheduled for Monday’s flight were asked to wait.

“Apparently, they cancelled yesterday’s flight to Enugu,” he said.

Effiong said passengers were subsequently kept waiting for about an hour before airline officials announced that the flight had been rescheduled to 4:50pm.

He also alleged that Air Peace sent passengers a second reminder at 2:01am on Monday, asking them to report for the flight despite the airline allegedly knowing that it would not operate as scheduled.

The lawyer said he met two other lawyers who were also scheduled to travel on the flight, with one of them equally expected to appear in court in Enugu that morning.

He added that United Nigeria Airlines and Enugu Air, which also operate the route, had only afternoon flights.

“I lost sound sleep, wasted my resources on flights and taxis (by the way, I already booked my return flight with United Nigeria slated for 3:20 PM today), and I am going to miss a sensitive court appearance,” Effiong said.

He accused Air Peace of taking passengers for granted because of its large fleet and its occasional role in repatriating stranded Nigerians.

Effiong also criticised the aviation regulators, accusing them of failing to hold the airline accountable.

“The regulators of the aviation industry are complicit in the impunity of Air Peace. The Minister of Aviation, @fkeyamo, has been doing PR for this airline instead of holding them accountable. @NigeriaCAA and @FAAN_Official have demonstrated that they’re incapable of tackling the arrogance of this airline,” he said.

Citing NCAA data, Effiong claimed that Air Peace delayed 71 per cent of its flights in August 2026, with 1,330 delays recorded out of 1,864 flights, and alleged that no sanctions were imposed.

“No country that is serious about economic development will condone such ineptitude,” he said.

Responding to the complaint on X, the NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, rejected the suggestion that the regulator was incapable of dealing with the airline.

Achimugu said the NCAA could only intervene after a disruption had occurred and assured Effiong that the complaint would be investigated.

“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,” he said.

The NCAA spokesman expressed sympathy over the disruption, saying the incident was not consistent with the standards the authority expected from the aviation industry.

“This is not how we want the industry to be,” Achimugu said.

He said the initial information suggested that the disruption was linked to a ripple effect from disruptions experienced by the airline on Sunday night.

“Just last week, we urged the airline to ensure to have a buffer aircraft to mitigate extreme disruptions, especially given recent events. I will reach out to them and find out what happened,” he said.

Following the preliminary investigation, Achimugu told Effiong that the flight had been disrupted because of the ripple effect of Sunday night’s disruptions.

He said Air Peace should have informed passengers scheduled to travel on Monday morning that their flight had been rescheduled.

According to Achimugu, a senior management official of the airline initially claimed that passengers had been informed. However, Effiong disputed the claim and provided the NCAA with a screenshot of the message he received, which instructed passengers to report early for the flight.

The NCAA spokesman said the airline’s station and duty managers subsequently confirmed that the message received by Effiong was the notification sent to passengers and that it had been sent in error.

“The Station Manager and Duty Manager have confirmed that the messages sent out was the one you received, and that it was done in error,” Achimugu said.

He added that the officials admitted that passengers on the affected flight should have been informed about the rescheduling.

The NCAA spokesman further said Air Peace claimed it had taken the affected passengers to a hotel, where they would receive care until boarding time, although the authority was still verifying the claim.

Achimugu said the NCAA had directed the airline to comply with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023 by developing a compensation package for the affected passengers and informing the regulator promptly.

“We have asked that the airline, in compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023, come up with a compensation package for affected passengers and let us know in good time,” he said.

He stressed that accurate and timely communication was essential in managing flight disruptions, saying the incorrect notification sent to passengers could not be classified as a force majeure event.

“Timely and honest information is key, and there was a gap in this regard. Sending the wrong notification was not a force majeure incident,” Achimugu said.

He said the airline would not necessarily face sanctions if it provided the affected passengers with the required compensation and duty of care, but warned that heavier sanctions could be imposed if it failed to comply.

Achimugu explained that sanctions were not automatically imposed after every flight disruption, as their application was guided by relevant regulations.

He also expressed sympathy with Effiong over the incident.

“You should not have been told to come to the airport for a flight that was not going to operate,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NCAA’s summary of domestic airline disruptions for August 2026 showed that 15 carriers operated 7,961 flights during the month, with 4,765 delayed and 36 cancelled.

Air Peace was listed as recording 1,330 delays out of 1,864 flights, representing 71.4 per cent of the flights captured in the NCAA data.

However, Air Peace disputed the figures, saying it operated 2,564 flights during the month and that the NCAA data excluded more than 700 of its flights.

The airline also said internal factors were responsible for only about 15 per cent of its delays.

Efforts by The PUNCH to reach Air Peace spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, for comment on the delayed Lagos-Enugu flight through phone calls made up to 12:39pm and a follow-up text message sent at 1:34pm were unsuccessful as of the time of filing the report.