Air Peace has challenged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s August 2026 flight disruption report, alleging that the regulator understated the number of flights it operated during the month and failed to adequately distinguish delays caused by airlines from those arising from circumstances beyond their control.
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In a statement issued on Thursday, the airline said it operated 2,564 flights in August, rather than the 1,864 flights attributed to it in the NCAA report a difference of 700 flights which, it argued, materially affected the picture presented of its operational performance.
The NCAA had reported that Nigerian airlines operated a total of 7,961 domestic flights during August, of which 4,765 were delayed and 36 cancelled.
According to the regulator’s figures, Air Peace recorded the highest number of delayed flights, with 1,330 delays out of 1,864 flights, equivalent to roughly seven in every 10 flights captured for the airline.
A breakdown of the NCAA data showed that 666 of Air Peace’s reported delays lasted between 16 minutes and one hour, 400 lasted between one and two hours, 156 lasted between two and three hours, while 108 lasted three hours or longer. The airline was also recorded as having seven cancellations.
Air Peace, however, said the NCAA figures did not present what it considered the full operational context, particularly because the regulator’s report did not specify which delays were caused by airlines themselves and which resulted from airport congestion, weather, infrastructure deficiencies or other external events.
According to the airline, an internal review of its August operations showed that 391 delayed flights were attributable to factors within its control, including technical issues requiring unscheduled maintenance and fuel-related challenges.
It said the remaining disruptions were caused largely by circumstances outside its direct control, with airport congestion and air traffic-related issues accounting for more than 51 per cent of externally induced delays.
Air Peace also identified bird strikes, airport infrastructure challenges, adverse weather, industrial action by aviation unions and damage to an aircraft by a ground-handling company as factors that disrupted its August schedule.
The airline particularly pointed to industrial action that commenced on August 11, saying its effect continued for more than two weeks because cancellations and rescheduling disrupted subsequent aircraft rotations.
The industrial dispute had interrupted Air Peace operations on August 11, leaving passengers affected and requiring the carrier to reorganise its flight schedule.
Air Peace also cited a bird strike involving aircraft 5N-BYG in Abuja as another major source of disruption.
According to the airline, the incident damaged the aircraft’s inlet cowl beyond acceptable operational limits, necessitating repairs estimated at about $1.8 million.
The aircraft was taken out of service for more than a week while the damaged component was replaced.
Air Peace said the aircraft ordinarily operated at least eight sectors daily and transported approximately 1,000 passengers, meaning its temporary withdrawal from service affected capacity and contributed to disruption across subsequent flights.
The airline also questioned the NCAA’s decision to begin its latest monthly disruption reporting with August rather than July, following the publication of the regulator’s first- and second-quarter aviation performance reports on July 31.
Air Peace further queried how the August report was published only 13 days after the end of the month without, in its view, sufficiently reflecting significant events such as the industrial action and other operational circumstances that affected airlines during the period.
It argued that flight-performance reporting should distinguish delays attributable directly to an airline from those caused by airport congestion, inadequate infrastructure, adverse weather and other factors over which carriers exercise little or no control.
Air Peace consequently called on the NCAA to review and audit its methodology for collecting and presenting flight disruption data to ensure that future reports accurately capture both the total number of airline operations and the underlying causes of delays.
The airline said it remained committed to improving its internal processes and reducing delays caused by factors within its control, while maintaining that individual carriers cannot independently resolve challenges relating to airport congestion, infrastructure deficiencies or adverse weather.
The NCAA had not publicly responded to Air Peace’s objections at the time of the airline’s statement.
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