Airlines must pay compensation for cancelled, delayed flights – Festus Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, said that airlines that fail to comply with the law must compensate passengers for flight delays and cancelations.

He made this statement in Abuja yesterday during a meeting with the leaders of the ministry’s agencies.

“We are aware of the complaints of Nigerians about delayed and canceled flights. The law is clear and we are working on how to apply it to compensate Nigerians who suffer from flight cancelations and disruptions.

“The solution is not to ground the airline or sue them. If the delay or cancelation is their fault, they must pay compensation. And my suggestion is that if they don’t refund the money, they must give some discount when they buy another ticket.

“I have formed a committee to look into it so that they can create a code that they can use when they want to buy another ticket.

“We care about the satisfaction and safety of the passengers,” he said. The minister instructed the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to prepare a weekly list of canceled flights.

He also ordered the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau to finish all investigations of air accidents and incidents in the next 10 days.

He said: “For the recent incidents that occurred, some minor, and others serious, but no one died. The NSIB is looking into these incidents and I have told them that they must give me their report of what happened within 10 days from today