Rights Abuse: CPC Orders Aero To Pay N41,000 Compensation, Refund 25% Of Ticket Cost To Abandoned Passengers

One of Nigeria’s indigenous airlines, Aero Contractors, has been found culpable by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) of gross abuse of the rights of passengers of its November 8, 2013, Abuja-Lagos bound flight AJ132 and has ordered the company to pay each of the affected passengers N41, 000 within 30 days. The Director-General, CPC, Mrs Dupe Atoki, who stated this while briefing editors in Lagos yesterday, said that apart from the N41, 000 compensation, the airline must also refund 25 per cent of the passengers’ ticket value for leaving them to their fate at the airport overnight. The compensation, according to Mrs. Atoki, is in lieu of the reliefs that should have been provided during the period of delay, in line with the Passengers’ Bill of Rights (PBR), a regulation enacted by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); which is binding on all airlines operating in the country. She said, “Each of the passengers of the flight should be paid N5, 000 for snacks and drinks due to them after one hour as well as meals and drinks due after two hours of delay; The passengers are also entitled to N1, 000 for two free telephone calls, SMS or email; N10, 000 for return transportation to and from the airport; N25, 000 for hotel accommodation; and 25 per cent of their ticket value for the cancellation of the flight without notice.