With about 20 airports across Nigeria and the recent challenges of road transport, many people are now gravitating towards air travel. In the last article on the Aviation industry, we couldn’t tell you everything.
One important piece of news we didn’t mention was the money-back guarantee for flight delays and cancellations. We were super thrilled to hear sanctions will now follow flight delays and cancellations by airlines.
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With the new rush for inter-city air transport, flight delays and cancellations have increased in frequency. Frequent flyers complain about most airlines’ bad communication when handling such issues. Also, that airlines offer no compensation when they disrupt people’s flight plans. This new pronouncement from the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika is a welcome development.
The regulations he shared during a press briefing on 8th July 2021 are not new. They are stated in the Consumer Protection Regulations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (2015) Part 19. The Law mandates Airlines to refund unused air tickets or compensate passengers for flight cancellations.
The Aviation Minister said
“On domestic flights, for delay beyond one hour, the carrier should provide refreshment, and one telephone call, or one SMS, or one e-mail. They should send you an SMS or email or call you to say, ‘I am sorry, I am delaying for one hour. For delay between 10pm and 4am, the carrier shall provide hotel accommodation, refreshment, meal, two free calls, SMS, email and transport to-and-fro airport.”
Sen. Sirika also said the same rules applied for international flights.
Here are the terms with which he said you can expect to cash out under the money-back guarantee:
a. For delay for two hours and beyond, the carrier shall reimburse passengers the full volume of their tickets.
b. The caveat, however, is not to be unruly at the airport. Once you make a scene, kiss your refund goodbye.
Just because it is written in the law and a minister reiterated it doesn’t mean it’ll happen instantaneously. A refund can drag for as much as three weeks depending on the circumstance. That’s because they do most cancellations or delays for legitimate reasons like poor weather, unavailability of fuel or spare parts to repair a faulty craft. Also, how you paid may determine how you will receive your refund. Sometimes, you may end up rescheduling to avoid forfeiting the flight.
Financial compensation is a different ball game from the refund. There are also certain conditions that must be met before the airline will grant compensation. So just because your flight was cancelled, doesn’t mean you qualify for compensation. The airline ought to pay passengers for any hardship experienced as a result of the untimely cancelled flight. For this to happen, there must be proof of hardship suffered or to be suffered by the decision to cancel.
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Note: There will be no compensation of a passenger of a cancelled flight (whether local or international flight), where;
- The passenger is travelling free of charge or at a reduced fare/cost that is not open to the public. This refers to passengers that were to fly with no cost or at a reduced cost due to their internal relationships with the airline. They are different from those who got in through public bonanza or special sales and ticket programs.
- The passenger does not have a confirmed reservation on the cancelled flight (maybe the passenger has a mere unpaid reservation, like the popular “book on hold”).
- The passenger is under a packaged tour and there is a cancellation of the packaged tour for any other reason apart from the cancellation of flight by the airline.
- The cancellation of flight by the airline was due to unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances, even if all reasonable measures had been taken by the airline. Extraordinary circumstances include mechanical, technical, operational, climatic, socio-political or any other conditions beyond the actual control of the airline.
- The passenger had adequate notice of the cancellation. An airline will not provide care where the airline communicated the passenger, informing the passenger about the cancellation of flight, at least within 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight for domestic flights and 7 days before the scheduled departure time of the flight for international flights.
So before you demand refunds or compensation, weigh all the options before you. Then make an informed decision that will ultimately be to your benefit.
Source
Today NG
The Punch
Learning Nigerian Laws
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