August disruptions: Air Peace accounts for highest share of domestic flight delays in Nigeria

# What happened in August

Nigeria's domestic airline network ran into broad disruption in August. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) reported that 15 carriers flew 7,961 scheduled domestic flights that month. Of those, 4,765 flights arrived late and another 36 services were cancelled. That means roughly six in 10 flights did not operate on time.

# Which airlines were most affected

Air Peace had the highest number of delayed services in the NCAA summary. The carrier operated 1,864 flights in August and recorded 1,330 delays—more than 71% of its flights. United Nigeria also featured among the carriers with large numbers of delayed services. The NCAA dataset covered carriers responsible for about 60% of domestic operations for the month, so it provides a partial but substantial picture of performance.

# How passengers were affected

# Airlines' response and disputed figures

Air Peace and other carriers disputed aspects of the NCAA report. The airline and United Nigeria have pointed to what they describe as inaccuracies in the reported figures. Air Peace said external operational factors—airport congestion, industrial action, bird strikes, fuel shortages and adverse weather—affected some of its services in August. Those explanations appear in public statements and reporting tied to the same reporting period.

# Reported causes of disruption

Multiple operational and external factors were cited across reporting linked to August disruptions:

• Airport congestion, which can produce knock-on delays across a day of schedules.
• Industrial action that affects airport or airline staff availability.
• Bird strikes and other safety incidents that require inspections or repairs.

• Weather conditions that force delays, diversions or cancellations.

# Regulatory follow-up and passenger remedies

The NCAA's public summary prompted action in at least one instance: the authority ordered an airline to compensate passengers after investigating a delayed Lagos–Enugu flight. The regulatory role here is enforcement of passenger rights and oversight of airline operational performance.

# What to watch next

Expect further exchanges between the NCAA and domestic carriers as airlines contest data accuracy and the regulator pursues enforcement in confirmed cases. Watch for any follow-up reports that publish corrected figures or more granular delay-cause breakdowns, and for airlines' operational updates that aim to reduce late departures and cancellations.