News Details

Flight delays, cancellations take joy out of air travel, NCAA begs travelers

  • Agency monitors refreshments handling, cares for stranded passengers

Worried by incessant flight delays and cancellations, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has pleaded with passengers as a result of inconveniences in the last couple of days.

Delays and cancellations currently experienced by passengers have taken away the joy of air travel, just as airlines have complained about poor visibility as a reason for the problems encountered by air passengers.

Aside from that, airlines cannot attend to the huge number of people who are booked on their airlines because of a shortage of airplanes.

The Acting Director-General of NCAA, Capt, Chris Najomo at the weekend attributed the delays and flight cancellations to airlines biting more than they can chew; an indication that the carriers lack the capacity for many of the routes they are opening.

He however disclosed that starting from January 2024, airlines found wanting to have delayed passengers and which actions cause delay or flight cancellation would be made to give affected travelers 25% rebate on their next flight with the airline.

Najomo said the directive had been communicated to the carriers, stressing that the action would engender efficiency in the sector that has made air travel no longer enjoyable as travelers daily decry the attitude of many of the airlines and the total lack of consumer protection.

He however defended the carriers saying many of the problems that cause flight delays or cancellations are caused by factors beyond the airlines’ control.

He listed the factors as VIP movements that make the airspace closed whenever the President, Vice-President or any top diplomats have their aircraft set for take-off or landing, weather-related issues, and inadequate infrastructure that make passenger processing very slow and cumbersome, there causing schedule disruptions.

He further stated that the aviation regulatory body was doing so much in-house to reduce the menace that has taken the joy out of air travel.

“The airlines are biting more than they can chew. Lack of planning is causing some of the delays we are experiencing. Some airlines for instance have less than four aircraft and they want to fly all the routes. That is not possible because four aircraft capacity cannot sustain the type of operations you are doing.

In a related development, Director Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu said the aviation regulatory body was aware of flight disruptions that have inconvenienced air passengers in the last couple of days and empathized with all affected passengers for the inconveniences these disruptions may have caused.

He said the NCAA has mandated all airlines to provide timely flight disruption information to passengers to enable them to make informed decisions concerning their travels.

“NCAA is monitoring all operations and our Consumer Protection Officers are on the ground to monitor passenger handling procedures to ensure that airlines mitigate the inconveniences to passengers and provide care, refreshments, and other alternative measures in line with  Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023 Part 19-.For prompt attention to your complaints, visit the NCAA CPD desks located at the airport.”

Popular Post

Archives

Categories

Instagram post