Nigeria — Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023, Part 19 (Passengers' Rights and Airlines' Obligations)

The clocks it starts

• Two years for a Montreal Convention claim (Art. 35)This is the limitation period for the Convention claim for proven delay damages on international carriage, not for any national compensation scheme, which may have its own. It is fatal to the Convention claim specifically, and correspondence does not suspend it.Montreal Convention 1999, Art. 35(1) — Art. 35(1)Limitation period

What it entitles you to, beyond money

• The carrier must tell you why, within thirty minutesPart 19 requires the carrier to inform passengers of the reason for a delay or cancellation within thirty minutes of the scheduled departure time, and to keep them updated. This is the obligation Nigerian carriers breach most visibly and it is the easiest thing in the world to evidence: note the time, photograph the board, and record that nobody came. A documented breach of the information duty strengthens everything else you ask for.
• Refreshments, meals and free communication from two hoursFrom two hours of delay the carrier owes refreshments and meals appropriate to the wait, and free means of communication — telephone calls or emails. Not vouchers for a shop that is closed; actual refreshments. If you buy your own, keep the receipt: unprovided care is recoverable.
• Rerouting or your money back from three hoursReg. 19.9.1.1 requires the carrier, once the delay reaches three hours, to reroute you to your final destination under comparable transport conditions at the earliest opportunity, or at a later date of your convenience, or to reimburse the fare. The choice between rerouting and reimbursement is the passenger's, and "comparable transport conditions" means the carrier cannot downgrade you onto a worse routing and call it compliance.
• The Montreal Convention is Nigerian lawThe Civil Aviation Act 2022 domesticated the Montreal Convention 1999 in Nigeria, which means a Nigerian court applies Art. 19 directly to international carriage. Nigerian courts have awarded delay damages on that basis. This is a separate and often larger claim than the Part 19 compensation, and it is the route where the delay cost you real money.
• Ask whether the African Union consumer regulation has been domesticatedThe Yamoussoukro Decision is implemented through a set of regulations that includes one on the protection of consumers of air transport services, administered through the African Civil Aviation Commission. Whether it gives you an enforceable right depends on whether your state has brought it into domestic law, which varies across the continent and which we have not verified state by state. It is worth one line in your complaint to the national authority: ask whether the African Union consumer protection regulation applies to your flight and, if so, what it provides. The answer is either a right you did not know you had or a clear statement that the national regulation is the only one in play.
• The Banjul Accord explains why West African regulations look alikeCabo Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone pool safety oversight through the Banjul Accord Group, and their civil aviation regulations are built from a shared template. That is useful to know when you are looking for the right provision: a Ghanaian regulation number will often correspond to a Nigerian one. It is a safety and oversight arrangement, not a consumer body, so it does not itself give you anywhere to complain.
• Montreal Convention damages for delay (international carriage)On international carriage between States Parties, Art. 19 of the Montreal Convention makes the carrier liable for the damage the delay actually caused you — the unused hotel night, the missed onward booking, the extra meals and transport — unless it proves it took all measures that could reasonably be required. It is capped at 6,303 SDR per passenger (the figure ICAO set with effect from 28 December 2024) and it requires receipts, not a formula. This claim exists independently of any national scheme, and airlines never mention it. The right is extinguished two years after arrival under Art. 35.Art. 19, Art. 22(1)

Where to take it next

1. 01Written claim to the airlineWrite to the carrier naming Part 19 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023, the flight, the length of the delay, and each obligation you say it breached — the thirty-minute notification, the two-hour refreshments, the three-hour rerouting or refund. Ask it to state the compensation percentage it says applies and under which sub-regulation.Claim direct·typically 30 days
2. 02NCAA Directorate of Consumer ProtectionThe Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has a consumer protection function that takes passenger complaints and has fined carriers for Part 19 breaches. It is genuinely active by regional standards. It is also the body that can tell you the correct compensation figure, which is the one thing we could not verify.Regulator·typically 90 days·official page
3. 03Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)The FCCPC has jurisdiction over consumer complaints against service providers generally, including airlines, and has taken action in the aviation sector. It is a parallel route with different powers and is worth using where the complaint is about how you were treated or misled.Regulator·typically 90 days·official page
4. 04Federal High Court or the Small Claims CourtBinding on themNigerian courts hear passenger claims against carriers, and the Montreal Convention as domesticated by the Civil Aviation Act 2022 supports a delay-damages claim on international carriage. State small claims courts handle modest sums quickly. Nigerian judgments in this area are notably passenger-friendly.Small claims·typically 180 days