NCAA summons 13 domestic airlines over flight cancellations, delays

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The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has summoned 13 domestic airlines to an emergency meeting over the growing number of flight delays, cancellations and affecting passengers across the country.

The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday at the NCAA headquarters in Abuja, was confirmed by the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his X handle on Tuesday.

This intervention comes amid rising complaints from air travelers and a series of incidents involving unruly passenger behavior at airports, a trend NCAA attributes partly to poor airline adherence to aviation rules.

In recent times, violent acts have become prominent in Nigerian airport incidents that were caused by different reasons.

While some unruly behaviours were caused by passengers’ ignorance of aviation rules, some were a result of airlines’ deliberate moves to circumvent regulations and deprive passengers of their rights.

Achimugu disclosed that the meeting would address a range of critical issues, including persistent flight delays and cancellations, Passenger handling protocols and welfare obligations, unresolved refund and compensation complaints, enforcement of safety measures like the phone switch-off directive, protection for cabin crew and NCAA officials, and the Introduction of RFID baggage tagging and real-time flight monitoring technology. Punch