FLIGHT DISRUPTIONS: Air Peace, UNA fault NCAA data

Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, and United Nigeria Airlines, UNA, have faulted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, report on the number of flight delays and cancellations by airlines in August, saying it is filled with inaccuracies.

NCAA’s Summary of Domestic Airline Flight Disruptions Operations in August showed that domestic airlines collectively recorded 4,801 disruptions out of 7,961 operated flights, with Air Peace recording the highest figure, having either delayed or cancelled 1,337 flights out of 1,864 operated.

United Nigeria Airlines delayed or cancelled 951 out of 1,231 operated flights, while Enugu State-owned airline, Enugu Air, disrupted 586 flights out of 878 operated. ValueJet disrupted 438 out of 767 flights.

Akwa Ibom State-owned airline, Ibom Air, disrupted 257 out of 560 operated flights. Arik operated 301 flights, out of which it delayed 188 and cancelled one.

Reacting to the figures in a statement, Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace Limited, Oluwatoyin Olajide, said they failed to reflect the reality of the airline’s operations and did not accurately give the reasons behind the disruptions.

Olajide stated that an internal review of the airline’s August 2026 flight data performance analysis revealed that 391 flights experienced in August were caused by internal factors, with the rest of the delays caused by external factors.

These external factors, according to her, included airport congestion and traffic, bird strikes, airport facilities, inclement weather conditions, picketing by the unions and ground-handling damage.

She stated: “First, the NCAA report vastly underreported our total flight volume. Air Peace operated a total of 2,564 flights in August 2026, as opposed to the 1,864 flights stated in the NCAA report. By omitting over 700 fully operational flights from the data pool, the NCAA’s calculations skew our actual performance metrics and artificially inflate the reported delay percentages. Most worrisome is: Why did the NCAA start the monthly series with August rather than July, immediately following the publication of Q1 and Q2 on 31st of July?

“It is indeed worrisome that there is still no equivalent monthly data located for July, yet the NCAA published unusually granular August airline delay data only 13 days after month-end. Unbelievable!

“It is reasonable to suggest that the early release of the August publication should have been accompanied by disclosure that the month contained an extraordinary aviation-sector industrial disruption which significantly affected the airline’s operations. The effect of the August 11th-instigated union disruptions of our operations lingered for over 14 days, leading to rescheduling, avoidable delays and cancellation of flights.

“Why was this report published rapidly without identifying the causes of the delays attributed to individual airlines instead of publishing wrong figures that could tarnish the reputation of the airline despite prevailing operational challenges?

“Furthermore, the characterisation of these delays failed to differentiate between internal operational issues and severe systemic challenges that are completely outside the airline’s control.

“An internal review of our August 2026 flight data performance analysis reveals that 391 flights, which is only 15 per cent of the delays experienced during the month of August, were caused by internal factors. The rest of the delays experienced by Air Peace were caused by external factors, and we have the data to support this.

“From the above, only 391 flights should be attributed to Air Peace, which represents 15 per cent of the delays in that month. The internal delay causal factors were largely as a result of technical issues resulting in unscheduled maintenance on our aircraft and fuel-related issues.”

Also faulting the NCAA’s data, Chief Commercial Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Adedayo Olawuyi, said factors that contributed to the disruptions were beyond the airline’s control.

Olawuyi spoke during the Aviation Day of the 23rd Akwaaba African Travel Market, themed: ‘Delayed and Cancelled Flights: The Rules and the Rights of Passengers — The Airline Perspective,’ held in Lagos.

His words: “I will use an analogy. You go to school and 60 per cent of the students fail, is that the fault of the school? Yes or no? My point is very simple. The first problem we have with that data, personally speaking, is that the data was not presented in a way where we have removed controllable delays and uncontrollable delays.

“When you remove the controllable delays and you have a high number of 60 per cent, then you can say the problem is the airlines. The question about the reason for the delays should not be directed to the airlines. The question should be directed to all stakeholders. Airports, regulators, everybody in the ecosystem shouldn’t ignore that 60 per cent.

“There are many reasons that lead to cancellations and delays of flights in Nigeria’s aviation sector. There is the infrastructure. If you get to the ramp early in the morning, there are times when the aircraft is blocked from moving simply because there are many operators operating today. A flight that pushes back at 6:59 a.m. eventually takes off at 7:38 a.m. Now, we are not saying delays will continue or that we intentionally want to delay flights. Airlines don’t want to intentionally delay flights, but the challenges we face are what bring about these delays.

“Second, we operate machines. Have you ever woken up, and your car did not start? Sometimes we have technical challenges. When these technical challenges occur, we must maintain the safety of that flight and ensure that everything is properly done and that the aircraft is fixed before it is released into service.

“Then there are weather issues. In Nigeria today, the bulk of the airports we operate in are dusk-to-dawn operations, meaning they do not even have lighting and cannot operate at night. So, when you have delays from every other reason that extend into the night, sometimes we are forced to cancel.”