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By Chinelo Obogo
The debate over discrepancies between domestic airline performance data and figures released by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has resurfaced, with a recent comparative analysis by Daily Sun revealing major inconsistencies.
Daily Sun compared monthly performance data reported by airlines on their official social media handles with statistics recently released by the NCAA. The analysis showed significant discrepancies across airlines, including Green Africa, Air Peace, Ibom Air, and United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), particularly in the number of scheduled and operated flights, delays, and cancellations.
For instance, Green Africa published its August 2024 performance on its official X handle, stating it had 456 scheduled flights, with 453 operated, 53 delayed, and four canceled. However, NCAA data for the same month reported 416 operated flights, 101 delays, and four cancellations for the airline. Similarly, for October 2024, Green Africa said it operated 172 flights out of 176 scheduled, had 32 delays, and four cancellations, while the NCAA recorded 163 operated flights, 64 delays, and one cancellation for the airline in the same period.
Air Peace’s report also differs from NCAA’s data. In its performance report for January 2024, the airline published on its official X handle that it scheduled 2,759 flights, operated 2,627, rescheduled 319, and canceled 68, while 761 flights were delayed. However, in NCAA’s report for the same period (January 2024), the regulatory body said the airline operated 2,164 flights, delayed 1,171, and canceled 39. For March 2024, Air Peace said it scheduled 2,759 flights, operated 2,700, rescheduled 122, delayed 600, and canceled 30, while the NCAA, in its report, stated that the airline operated 2,107, canceled 10, and delayed 881.
For April 2024, Air Peace said it scheduled 2,658 flights, operated 2,542, rescheduled 211, delayed 763, and canceled 80, while in NCAA’s report for the same period, the airline was said to have operated 1,930 flights, delayed 1,043, and canceled 68.
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For May 2024, Air Peace said it operated 2,283 flights, rescheduled 140, delayed 685, and canceled 126, but the NCAA said in its report for the same period that the airline operated 1,771 flights, canceled 59, and delayed 931. In November 2024, Air Peace posted that it scheduled 2,068 flights, operated 2,027, rescheduled 197, delayed 638, and canceled 24, while NCAA’s report for the same period states that the airline operated 569 flights, delayed 106, and canceled two.
Ibom Air’s 2024 scorecard published on its X handle reported 9,155 operated flights out of 9,582 scheduled, with 1,977 delays and 427 cancellations, but NCAA data showed 7,856 operated flights, 2,739 delays, and 140 cancellations.
United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) faced similar inconsistencies. For February, the airline said it successfully scheduled 847 flights, of which 805 were operated as planned. It experienced 34 canceled flights and delayed 283.
The regulator, however, said for the same period, the airline operated 690 flights, delayed 665, and canceled 22. For March 2024, the airline said that out of its 685 scheduled flights, 681 were successfully operated, four were canceled, and 79 were delayed. But the NCAA in its report stated that the airline operated 655 flights, canceled eight, and delayed 324.
UNA’s flight performance report for April 2024 shows that out of the 600 scheduled flights, 531 were successfully operated, with 117 delays. However, the NCAA’s report for the same period said the airline operated 517, canceled 14, and delayed 291. In its May performance report, UNA said a total of 696 flights were scheduled, out of which 673 were operated, 143 were delayed, with only 23 cancellations, but the regulator’s report says the airline carried out 739 operations, with 399 delayed and only one canceled.
Stakeholders have questioned these discrepancies and the methodologies used by airlines and the NCAA to collect and report data. They have emphasized the importance of accurate data, particularly regarding flight cancellations. They argue that flights canceled on the day of operation should be counted as “canceled” to provide a true reflection of airline performance.
