Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday, charged local and international airlines operating in Nigeria to comply with the First Need compensation regulation where a passenger’s luggage is short-landed.

Short-landed baggage, NCAA clarified, refers to checked baggage accidentally left behind at the origin airport that arrives on a later flight.

The NCAA noted that part 19 of the Civil Aviation Regulation 2023 provides that affected local passengers are paid N10,000 and international passengers $170 in the event of land-landed baggage.

According to the agency, “For international airlines, they have a window to pay the amount defined in their terms of carriage failure, which attracts $170 without reduction. This is to enable passengers to purchase basic needs before their baggage arrives.”

The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Mr. Michael Achimugu, who spoke at a meeting held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with the regional managers of domestic airlines in attendance, said going forward, the Authority would sanction airlines that refused to comply with the First Need compensation policy.

He encouraged airlines to always pay the First Need to impacted passengers before they escalate to the Authority.

Achimugu stated, “This engagement perhaps should be the last time we will have to discuss the issue of this First Need. For a while now, it’s been a grey area.”

“Recall the NCAA has sent letters to the airlines about First Need. There has not been much compliance by the airlines,” the Director noted.

“The regulations are very clear. One cannot say for certain if the airlines are intentionally disregarding the regulations or if there is some miscommunication along the line.

“I met with some station managers who seemed not to be aware of the regulations. We thought that the right thing to do is to have this conversation with you to understand what the challenges have been. Why are we not paying First Need for short-handed baggage?” He queried.

“Part 19 of the Civil Aviation Regulation 2023 makes it clear. If the baggage of a passenger doesn’t arrive with the passenger, for domestic airline, the passenger gets N10,000 and you have seven days to deliver the bag at their address at no cost to passenger.

“But because a lot of passengers do not know their rights, the airlines have been making the passengers come pick up their luggage. Going forward, you must comply with the regulation,” he told the airlines.

“You should operate at world world-class standard. I must commend that the domestic airlines are trying. The margins are small and the airlines have capacity problem. As an Authority, we try to support the airlines because it is not all the time that the airlines are wrong. But the regulation must be obeyed,” the Director stated.

Commenting, the SSA to the DGCA, Mrs. Ifueko Adbulamlik, further explained that, where the airline delays in delivering the baggage for extended days, the passenger has the right to additional claims but with receipt of items bought as a result of their inconveniences from the short-landed baggage. 

The airlines’ representatives who spoke, appealed to the NCAA to impress on the FAAN, the terminal operators to fix broken-down infrastructure like conveyor belts, to ease baggage processing.

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