The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has charged local and international airlines operating in Nigeria to comply with the First Need compensation regulation where a passengers’ luggage is short-landed.
Short-landed baggage refers to checked baggage that is accidentally left behind at the origin airport and arrives on a later flight. 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. 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 purchase basic needs before their baggage arrives.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Mr. Michael Achimugu at a meeting held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Auja with the regional managers of domestic airlines in attendance said going forward, the Authority will sanction airlines that have refused to comply with the First Need compensation policy.
He encouraged the airlines to airlines to always pay the First Need to impacted passengers before they escalate to the Authority.
“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 CAA has sent letters to the airlines about First Need. There has not been much compliance by the airlines” the Director observed.
“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 shorthanded 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 to come pick their luggage. Going forward, you must comply with the regulation” he told the airlines.
“You should operate at world class standard. I must commend that the domestic airlines are trying. The margins are little 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, Mrs. Ifueko Adbulamlik, the SSA to the DGCA further explained that, where the airline delay to deliver the baggage for extended days, the passenger has 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 FAAN, the terminal operators to fix broken down infrastructure like conveyor belts to ease baggage processing.
Part 19 details the rights of passengers during various scenarios, including when they are denied boarding due to overbooking, when flights are delayed or canceled, and when their baggage is mishandled.
