WHILE air travel has become one of Nigeria’s most preferred means of transportation due to insecurity and the rising cost of road transport, flight disruptions and delayed refunds are challenges confronting travellers in Nigeria Ijeoma Opara reports.
IN May 2023, a resident of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ayanfe John, purchased a Dana Air ticket for a trip from Port Harcourt to Abuja scheduled for June 2, 2023.
The evening before the journey, John received a text message from Dana Air stating that the flight had been cancelled. The only explanation by the airline authorities for the cancellation was “operational reasons.”
She told The ICIR that she had been thrown into a state of panic following the cancellation, as she had no alternative means to return to Abuja the following day.
John received a follow-up email from the airline much later the same evening containing the contact information of a staff who could attend to complaints resulting from the cancellation.
“I sent a mail to them. I even called the number and talked about getting a refund so that I could book another flight. I was told it would take at least three weeks for me to get a refund. I have asked for the refund, filled the form, and I’m still yet to get that money,” she said while speaking to The ICIR in September, nearly four months after the incident.
Air transportation has become one of the most preferred means of travel for many Nigerians despite being quite expensive.
This is mostly due to banditry and abduction along highways, which has made road travel more insecure.
Also, the removal of petrol subsidy initially paid on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) used by cars, buses, and other vehicles that ply the roads by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has led to a significant hike in the cost of road travel nationwide.
Currently, road transportation, in some cases, costs more than half the price of air travel.
For instance, it cost between N32,300 and N34,000 to travel to Lagos from Abuja by road using GUO Transport Services, one of the most popular transport companies in Nigeria, on September 27, 2023, while God Is Good Logistics charged around N36,000.
However, the same trip cost about N59,500 for a 9.35 p.m. flight on the same day via Green Africa Airline, based on information obtained from wakanow.com, a popular online travel website.
Dana Airlines also charged N60,000 for a 7.30 p.m. flight on the same day, both less than twice the price of road travel, leading travellers more inclined towards air transportation.
A report showed how Nigerians are opting for air travel, especially via less expensive airlines such as Green Africa and Dana Air.
Also, while petrol used in cars and buses increased in price, jet fuel declined from N900 to N600 in June 2023. As the cost of road transportation surged, air tickets stayed within the same range.
However, delays and cancellations of flights sometimes defeat the aim of air transportation, and travellers spend long hours waiting at airports for delayed or cancelled flights.
A Kano resident, Sarah Akoji bought an Air Peace ticket for a trip from Abuja in July 2023. However, what was intended as a journey by air ended up being a train ride that occurred after about 12 hours.
“When we got to the Abuja airport, we waited, and the flight didn’t come as they said it would by 6.45 p.m. It came by past 7.00 p.m. We boarded and took off. But by the time the aircraft got to Kano airport, it could not land.
“They said the runway light in Kano airport was bad. We stayed in the air for 45 minutes or so before they announced that they would take us back to Abuja and decide what next,” Akoji told The ICIR.
However, the trip back to Abuja was impossible due to unfavourable weather conditions, and the journey was re-routed to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos.
At this time, the plane was running out of fuel, and there was a need for refuelling. This took about 1 hour 30mins, after which the travellers were flown back to Abuja.
It was almost midnight when they arrived, and Akoji, a nursing mother, was having a hard time keeping her 8-month-old baby comfortable.
She told The ICIR that when the airline manager arrived, he tendered an apology and urged the travellers to hang around or return home while expecting a text or email.
Some travellers left the airport, but those like Akoji, who had no family or friends in Abuja, remained stranded.
Akoji slept in the open with her child while battling the cold and mosquitoes. The next morning, Air Peace began transporting other passengers scheduled to travel that day while those stranded from the night before remained unattended to.
This prompted Akoji to demand a refund, but she was told to apply formally. She insisted on having no other money to continue with her journey, and because her child was making a fuss, she got an immediate refund.
“I was lucky, the man said: because of your baby, we will give you your cash. That was how they gave me a cash refund,” she told The ICIR.
While Akoji was lucky enough to get an immediate refund, her fellow travellers had to immediately make alternative travel plans even when it was not convenient.
Cases of flight delay and cancellations are also recorded on international trips, although they are more common with domestic airlines, according to data gathered from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) website.
In 2022, a total of 51,772 flights were delayed. Of this figure, over 47,000 delays were by domestic airlines, while international flights accounted for 4,628.
Also, out of 877 flight cancellations in 2022, 795 were by domestic airlines, while only 82 international trips were cancelled.
One reason for this might be the operation of more domestic than international flights during the period under review.
There were 80,328 domestic flight operations in 2022 and just about 13,000 international journeys, amounting to over six times more local trips.
However, there were over 10 times more delays on domestic airliners than on international flights.
Trips were also cancelled over 9 times more on domestic flights than on international airlines.
In Nigeria, as is the case globally, rescheduling flights by customers comes at a price which is decided by the airline.
John told The ICIR that when she missed a flight to Maiduguri from Abuja via Rano Airlines on October 1, it cost her an extra N30,000 to reschedule it the next day.
However, flights being rescheduled or cancelled by the airlines hardly come with compensation for the customers, and in some cases, no explanations are given.
FCT resident Samuel Sofolabo paid for a trip from Abuja to Lagos via United Nigeria Airlines scheduled for 6.15 p.m. on September 20.
By 1:00 p.m. on the day of the journey, he got an email that his flight had been rescheduled for 8:00 p.m. However, by 8.00 p.m., boarding had not commenced.
“At 9.30, all passengers were told to go to the check-in counter, and that was where we were told that our flight had been cancelled for no reason. Instead, we were asked to fill in a request form for a refund,” he said.
Because Sofolabo had an appointment the next day, he paid for the next available flight on a different airline. This cost him an unplanned expense of N75,000. The application for refund has not been processed at the time of filing this report, as he was told it would take four weeks from the time of request.
This is contrary to the aviation laws both in Nigeria and based on international standards.
Provisions of the law
Flight delays and cancellations are not peculiar to Nigerian airline operators alone.
In developed countries such as the United States of America (USA), when flights are cancelled for any reason by airlines, travellers are entitled to a full refund, which includes the cost of the ticket price, taxes, baggage fees and any other extra charge regardless of the reason behind the cancellation.
This refund must be made within seven working days if paid through credit cards or 20 working days if payment was made in cash or cheque, according to the United States Department of Transportation. Clients are not under obligation to leave the ticket open for use during subsequent trips.
In the US, 10 of the country’s largest airlines are in binding commitments with the government to take certain compensatory steps in favour of consumers when flights are delayed or cancelled, especially for controllable reasons.
These include rebooking passengers at no additional cost, providing meals when cancellation results in passengers waiting for 3 hours or more and, in some cases, hotel accommodations during overnight cancellations.
Passengers travelling from airports regulated by the European Union (EU) are also entitled to similar benefits following delays and cancellations of flights under EU Regulation 261.
In Nigeria, similar laws exist.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulation of 2015 provides under Part 19 that for delay and cancellation in domestic flights, “when an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, it shall provide the passengers with reason(s) for the delay within 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time.”
It also provides that if the delay persists for up to two hours, refreshments, two free phone calls or emails be provided, while reimbursement be made within a prescribed time for domestic flights delayed beyond three hours, depending on mode of payment.
The regulation also provided for hotel accommodation and transportation in cases where the delays continue till airports are closed and a further 25 per cent compensation in cases where 24 hours’ notice was not given.
However, exceptions are made in cases where flights are delayed or cancelled due to reasons outside the control of airline operators.
Despite the provisions of the law, many travellers do not get refunds within the prescribed time.
What options are available to customers?
In an interview with The ICIR, NCAA Director Consumer Protection and Public Affairs Chris Najomo encouraged customers to report cases of non-compliance with the regulation by airlines.
“The NCAA desks are very visible in the airport. If there is any complaint or maltreatment, go to the desk and complain immediately. Once the NCAA is involved, these cases are usually resolved,” Najomo said.
He also said that most air travellers are unaware of their rights, and the NCAA occasionally embarks on campaigns through Consumer Protection Officers (CPOs) to enlighten them on available options in cases of delays and cancellations.
Najomo added that in some cases, Letters of Investigation (LOI) are issued to erring airline operators, which can sometimes result in severe sanctions.
Assistant General Manager Consumer Protection, NCAA Abdullahi Yusuf, who also spoke with The ICIR, identified the lack of formal reports by customers as one of the challenges limiting the enforcement of the regulation.
“Part of the challenge is that some people do not write or take it up formally. I have seen a lot online, but do they come to us to report? Have they reached out to the NCAA? They should reach out to us; we have an office that handles that. They can forward their complaints to us via email also; we normally take them up and treat,” Yusuf said.
In 2022, The ICIR reported that the Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission (FCCPC) encouraged Nigerians to seek redress and insist on quality service in cases of flight delays and cancellations.
The FCCPC Deputy Director Consumer Education, Mercy Ogwu said customers can file complaints with the Commission if complaints have been made to service providers without action.
As many Nigerians struggle with paying for air travel to save time and minimise insecurity, among other reasons, delays and cancellations are some service failures that they are confronted with.
