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By Louis Ibah
Air travellers in Nigeria who take laws into their hands by molesting airline and airport officials over flight delays and cancellations would now be apprehended and made to face criminal charges, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said on Sunday.
The directive followed frequent reported cases of attacks on officials by aggrieved passengers whenever a force majour is declared owing to shortages in fuel, poor weather conditions, and faulty aircraft.
A statement by the NCAA on Sunday described “the spate of attacks as embarrassing and discourteous to such affected officials.”
“The NCAA warns all irate and belligerent passengers carrying out attacks on airline officials to desist forthwith. Subsequently, any passenger found carrying out attacks on airline officials will face criminal prosecution,” said the NCAA.
“Passengers are not expected to take laws into their hands if and when there are operational hiccups which are capable of truncating air services as all over the world, overbooking, denied boarding, delay and cancellations similarly occur in extraneous circumstances,” the NCAA added.
The NCAA however directed that operating airlines must at all times uphold the conditions of carriage and contract on each passenger’s ticket saying “all passengers are conferred with inalienable rights when they are travelling by air.”
According to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015 Part 19) prescribes minimum rights for air travellers on the occurrence of any of the following – no show and overbooking of flight, denied boarding, delay and cancellation of flights.
“These rights shall apply without prejudice to a passenger’s right under any applicable law or contract. Airlines have the obligation to inform passengers on cancellation, an explanation shall be given concerning possible alternative transport.
“On the other hand, when passengers are aggrieved, they may lodge a complaint with the Consumer Protection Directorate, or any other competent person designated by the NCAA about an alleged infringement.
“It is on record that the Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) has handled and resolved several cases from aggrieved passengers to their satisfaction.
“Therefore, the NCAA expects aggrieved passengers to recourse to the platform it has provided to file their complaints and seek redress or compensation as the case may be,” the statement added.
