Air Peace, Nigeria's largest airline, has contested the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority's (NCAA) August operations report, asserting that the regulator's figures omitted more than 700 of its flights and provided a misleading representation of its performance. The NCAA's report recorded 1,864 flights operated by Air Peace in August, with 1,330 delayed and seven cancelled. However, Air Peace maintains it operated 2,564 flights that month, and the omission of over 700 departures significantly distorted its delay rate.
Airline's Internal Review Shows Most Delays Were External
In a statement signed by Chief Operating Officer Oluwatoyin Olajide, Air Peace said an internal review found that only 391 delayed flights, approximately 15% of total delays, stemmed from factors within its control, primarily unscheduled maintenance and fuel-related issues. The airline attributed the majority of its disruptions to external conditions, with airport congestion alone accounting for more than 51% of externally caused delays. Aircraft were sometimes held on the ground or circling in holding patterns due to capacity constraints at airports, according to DailyTrust reports.
Air Peace also highlighted a bird strike involving one of its aircraft, 5N-BYG, in Abuja. The incident damaged the plane's inlet cowl, with repairs costing roughly $1.8 million. The aircraft was grounded for over a week; under normal operations, Air Peace said, it would have flown at least eight sectors daily and carried around 1,000 passengers. An industrial action that began on August 11 added further disruption, affecting the airline's scheduling for more than 14 days.
Air Peace Questions NCAA's Reporting Methodology
Beyond disputing the numbers, Air Peace raised broader concerns about the regulator's methodology. The airline questioned why the NCAA launched its monthly reporting series with August, given that the regulator had only just published its first- and second-quarter reports on July 31. It also criticised the absence of any breakdown showing whether individual delays were caused by the airlines themselves or by external operational conditions, such as weather, infrastructure failures, or industrial action. Without that distinction, the airline argued, the data offered little useful insight into actual airline performance.
Air Peace urged the NCAA to audit its data collection process so that future reports accurately capture total flight volumes and correctly attribute the causes of disruptions. The airline acknowledged it was committed to improving its own operations but maintained that issues like airport congestion and inadequate infrastructure were beyond any carrier's ability to resolve alone.
NCAA's Response and Industry Context
As of September 18, the NCAA had not publicly responded to Air Peace's claims. The regulator's August report showed that Nigerian domestic airlines collectively operated 7,961 flights during the month, with 4,765 delayed and 36 cancelled. Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian stock market closed negatively for the second consecutive session. Data showed that the market downturn was driven by profit-taking in banking, consumer goods, industrial, and oil & gas stocks, despite mild gains recorded in the insurance sector. The market's year-to-date return has dropped to 35.56% while the week's return after 4 days of trading is in the red zone at –0.32%.
