NCCA creates public awareness for air travellers

Chinazor Megbolu

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said it would resume public awareness creation for air passengers in few weeks time.

The Federal Government agency on Sunday said the public sensitisation is meant to further enlighten air travelers on steps they would take in case of flight delays or cancellations by airline operators.

The Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, in an interview with journalists in Lagos monitored on television, said awareness would enable the agency respond appropriately in cases where their rights are trampled upon by airline operators.

He also said that the law on 100 per cent refund on air tickets in cases of a three-hour delay is not novel to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulation (NCAR), buttressing it was gazetted by the federal government and has been in existence since 2015.

“Before the 2015 amendment to the extant regulations, airlines were supposed to pay 100 per cent compensation to passengers after two hours of delay, but the regulatory agency amended it to three hours in order to accommodate the complaints of the indigenous airlines and in a bid to ensure fair play,” he said.

Nuhu pointed out that in the case of natural phenomenon, the airline operators would not be sanctioned by the NCAA, saying it’s as a force majeure.

Nuhu further posited that airlines were given Air Operators’ Certificates (AOCs) based on the fact that they would comply with civil aviation regulations.

He noted that once any of the carriers is found guilty, the NCAA would not hesitate to sanction such airline