The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, has criticised domestic airlines and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, over the treatment of passengers affected by prolonged flight delays at Nigerian airports.
Sowore disclosed this in a statement on his official page following an encounter with passengers scheduled to travel from Lagos to Owerri on United Nigeria Airlines.According to him, several passengers were left stranded after their flight suffered repeated delays, with some waiting for more than 11 hours without adequate information or support from the airline.
He said the airline continuously postponed the departure time without giving clear explanations to affected travellers.“Yesterday, I met several passengers scheduled to travel from Lagos to Owerri on United Nigeria Airlines.
They had been abandoned to their fate after spending the entire day at the airport,” Sowore said.“Some had been stranded for more than 11 hours, while the airline repeatedly postponed their departure time without providing clear explanations or adequate care.”Sowore said the incident reflected broader concerns about customer service and regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
According to him, aviation regulators, particularly the NCAA, have not done enough to address what he described as recurring cases of poor treatment of passengers by domestic airlines.“Although we had a cordial interaction, that does not prevent us from once again stating the obvious: Nigeria’s aviation regulators, especially the NCAA, have failed in their responsibility to rein in the irresponsible conduct of domestic airlines,” he stated.
He further alleged that flight delays have become commonplace among some domestic carriers, while communication with passengers remains poor.“What is even more disturbing is that many of these airlines simply do not care.
Delays have become routine, poor communication has become standard practice, and passengers are treated as though their time, comfort, and dignity have no value,” he added.