The flight was delayed until the following day (Friday) at 6:00 a.m., leaving about 200 passengers unattended to spend the night at the airport.
Many travellers were stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, from Thursday evening to Friday morning due to a flight delay by Air Peace Airline that lasted more than 12 hours.
Some passengers shared their stories on social media, explaining that they arrived at the airport's domestic terminal around 4:00 p.m. for a flight to Lagos scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
However, their flight was delayed until the following day (Friday) at 6:00 a.m., leaving about 200 passengers unattended to spend the night at the airport.
"In case you prolly think you had a bad day yesterday (27-2-25), remember that some 200+ passengers arrived at the domestic terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport at about 4pm to board a 6.15pm flight to Lagos. As of 6.21am on 28-2025, look at those passengers," said Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri in a Facebook post on Friday.
She alleged that passengers who had booked business class, first class or economy class cried throughout the night, including sleeping on the couch inside the terminal.
"Neither FAAN nor Air Peace could provide any solution... Having a private jet is not a luxury in Nigeria anymore. It is a necessity!!!" her post read.
Air Peace reacts
In a statement issued Friday by Air Peace's Head of Corporate Communications,Ejike Ndiulo, the airline management said it regretted the disruption experienced on the Abuja-Lagos flight by the passengers.
The airline said the cause of the delay was due to an unscheduled maintenance requirement that "unfortunately left you delayed at the airport".
"We sincerely regret the disruption you experienced on flight P47127 Abuja-Lagos service of 27th February 2025, following an unscheduled maintenance requirement that unfortunately left you delayed at the airport," the statement said.
"Our Abuja team has communicated this development, and we understand the inconvenience this situation has caused. Please be assured that a rescue flight will be deployed and is scheduled to depart by 6:00am on 28th February 2025," the statement said.
The incident has generated various reactions from Nigerians on social media, with numerous individuals advocating for regulatory authorities to take punitive action against Air Peace for subjecting passengers to such distressing conditions.
In recent years, there has been a notable increase in cases of delayed flight in Nigeria. This trend has prompted regulatory authorities to consider implementing sanctions against airlines that fail to communicate delays to passengers in a timely manner or provide appropriate compensation.
Reactions
In his reaction, a Facebook user, Kelechi Deca, said: "After their early morning flights, nothing is guaranteed. For Air Peace, only the 6.30am flight is always on schedule. They just moved my 7.30am flight to 8.50am."
Kevin Anigbo said: "Can we promote a juridic-Social system that can make Airliners to be more responsible for their actions. Private jets are good, when and how many people are going to afford them? Airpeace especially has dealt with me severely and always gets away with it. The situation seems to be getting worse every day, and nothing seems to be done about it!"
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On his part, Chukwudi Ozalla said: "Extremely frustrating. They are biting more than they can chew. Air Peace is overstretched, overstressed, and overwhelmed, yet they keep booking."
On Friday, when PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spokesperson, Michael Achimugu, on the issue, he said he had been briefed and that a meeting with the airline management had been scheduled for Tuesday next week.
He explained that his team members were at the airport during the incident and that he would review the reports and provide detailed feedback after the meeting with the airline.
"You know, when we write an email to airlines, they have a seven-day ultimatum to respond. But we get things done faster when we meet them physically," he told PREMIUM TIMES via telephone conversation.
