By Dickson Pat
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has said it will no longer beg airlines to operate by the rules as provided by Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations.
The NCAA said it has alerted its officers across airports to report ailing airlines and not to chase them to obey laws.
Part 19 of the NCAA Regulation 2023 prescribes minimum rights and responsibilities of passengers and airlines’ obligations to passengers.
This was based on a tweet shared on X on Thursday by the Director, Public Affairs & Consumer Protection at NCAA, Michael Achimugu.
He said, “Another day to remind airlines operating in Nigeria that failure to comply with the NCAA regulations will attract serious penalties.
“We have instructed NCAA Consumer Protection Officers at the terminals not to chase airlines to do the right thing anymore. Just monitor their operations and report to HQ, and we will take action in line with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.”
Under the new administration, the NCAA has been enforcing consumer rights and protecting them from the abuse of local and international airlines.
In February 2025, Royal Air Maroc, Arik Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Aero Contractors, and Air Peace received a letter of sanction for various violations.
As of that time, the NCAA was “still gathering evidence and monitoring the officials to be able to come down harder on them in view to fine them a record N200m for their chronic infractions of the resolution”.
Based on some of the provisions of Part 19 of the Regulation, “If a consumer cancels a ticket reservation no later than 24 hours after purchasing it, for tickets bought at least seven days before a flight’s scheduled departure date and time, the air carrier shall:
(a) allow such consumer to cancel their reservation and receive a refund, or (b) allow such consumer to reserve the ticket ,place it on hold, for 6 months.
“For domestic flights, when an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, it shall provide the passengers with reason(s) for the delay within 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time and the assistance specified below: (a) after two hours, refreshments as specified in section
19.10.1.1(a) and telephone calls, SMS and E-mails as specified in section 19.10.1.2;
(b) Beyond three (3) hours, Reimbursement as specified in subSection 19.9.1.1(a); And Re-routing as specified in subsection 19.9.1.1(b)(c); (c) at a time beyond 10:pm till 4:am, or at a time when the airport is closed at the point of departure or final destination, the
assistance specified in sections 19.10.1.1(c)and 19.10.1.1(d) (hotel accommodation and transport); and (d) In the event of a Lengthy delay When the expected time of departure is more than six hours after the time of departure previously announced, compensation as specified in subsection 19.8.1.1(a)”.