The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered Dana Airline Limited to pay ₦5.5 million in damages and legal costs to a lawyer, Babajide Idowu, over a flight that was delayed for about 12 hours in 2018.
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Justice Y. Bogoro delivered the judgment on May 26, 2026, although a Certified True Copy of the decision was made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday.
The suit was instituted in November 2019 by Idowu through his counsel, Lekan Ikuomola of Ayodeji, Babajide and Lekan Partners.
The plaintiff sought, among other reliefs, a declaration that Dana Airline breached the contract of carriage between the parties when it failed to transport him at the scheduled time on July 5, 2018, and instead delayed the flight for approximately 12 hours.
Ikuomola told the court that about 70 other passengers were similarly affected by repeated postponements and delays of the flight.
In his judgment, Justice Bogoro observed that both parties agreed that the flight was delayed.
The judge noted that Dana Airline did not deny the delay but sought to justify it on the basis of protocols governing circumstances in which flights may be delayed.
Justice Bogoro, however, held that once a passenger purchases a ticket and the airline accepts the ticket, a contractual relationship is established between them, imposing an obligation on the carrier to transport the passenger as agreed.
“Once a passenger purchases a ticket and the airline accepts it, a contractual relationship arises. As such, the airline, the defendant in this case, must perform its obligation to carry the plaintiff as agreed,” the judge held, relying on the Civil Aviation Act, 2006.
The court also considered the provisions governing liability for damage caused by delay in the carriage of passengers.
Justice Bogoro noted that the applicable provision limited a carrier’s liability for each passenger in cases of damage caused by delay to $4,150, but explained that an airline could escape liability where it established that all necessary measures were taken to avoid the damage or that taking such measures was impossible.
After reviewing the documentary exhibits and other evidence placed before the court, the judge held that Dana Airline failed to produce evidence demonstrating that it or the relevant regulators had taken measures to prevent the prolonged delay.
“In this instant case, there is abundant evidence that the plaintiff was not transported by the airline at the scheduled time,” Justice Bogoro held.
The court consequently found that Idowu had established his entitlement to general damages for the inconvenience and harm arising from the delay.
Justice Bogoro also upheld the plaintiff’s claim for the cost incurred in prosecuting the action.
The court therefore ordered Dana Airline Limited to pay Idowu ₦5 million as general damages and an additional ₦500,000 as solicitor’s fees, bringing the total monetary award to ₦5.5 million.
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