Can Nigerians Still Trust the Skies? The Questions Behind Nigeria’s Troubled Airline Industry

By Blessing Iriaka

Between 2025 and the middle of 2026, I personally counted more than 10 reports involving aircraft incidents, flight delays, cancellations and other disruptions involving airlines operating in Nigeria.

As a journalist who travels by air and as a passenger who has experienced some of these disruptions myself, I found myself asking a bigger question: What is the fate of the airline business in Nigeria? The question is not whether airlines should operate in Nigeria. Air travel has become an important part of how Nigerians move across the country and beyond it. The question is whether the systems surrounding the industry are working well enough to guarantee safety, professionalism, accountability, and respect for passengers.

There is a tendency to think that an airline business is simply about having an aircraft, hiring a pilot and transporting passengers. It is much more complicated. Nigeria has a regulatory framework governing civil aviation. The Civil Aviation Act 2022 establishes the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), while the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations cover areas including Air Operator Certification, aircraft operations, personnel licensing, approved training organisations, safety management and consumer protection.

When an airline receives regulatory approval to operate, how rigorous and continuous is the oversight that follows? Safety cannot be a one-time certification exercise. It has to be an everyday culture. When we talk about airline safety, our minds often go straight to the pilot. 

But an aviation system involves far more people: pilots, cabin crew, engineers, maintenance personnel, air-traffic controllers, airport emergency teams, ground handlers and others whose work contributes to a passenger's journey. Nigeria's regulations require aviation personnel to meet licensing, competency, training and experience requirements, while training organisations themselves require regulatory approval. 

So when passengers encounter repeated operational problems, the question should not immediately be “Who is the bad pilot?” It should be: Are all the systems, people and institutions responsible for safe operations performing to the required standard?

I have also experienced the frustration of flight disruptions personally. On one occasion, I booked an early morning flight because I needed to be in Abuja by 10 a.m. I arrived at the airport before 6 a.m., only to discover that the flight had been delayed and eventually shifted to the afternoon. For someone travelling for an emergency, an appointment, a meeting or another flight connection, such a delay is not simply an inconvenience. It can disrupt an entire day. 

I have seen passengers complain about cancellations or delays where information reaches them late or where different explanations are given at different stages. 

But here is the part that surprised me when I began looking into the regulations:

Passengers actually have rights. Under NCAA's Part 19 regulations, airlines have obligations concerning delayed and cancelled flights, passenger care, refunds, compensation and the right to information. The NCAA also provides channels through which passengers can escalate complaints when an airline fails to resolve them. 

So perhaps the problem is not simply that there are no rules. Perhaps the bigger question is: Are passengers sufficiently aware of their rights, and are those rights being consistently enforced?

The concern becomes even more serious when we look at recent aviation incidents.

In December 2025, a Skypower Express Cessna 172 crash-landed while approaching Sam Mbakwe International Airport, Owerri, after the crew declared an emergency. Four people were on board and survived. The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau commenced an investigation. 

Then, on July 23, 2026, an Enugu Air Embraer E170 overran the runway at Benin Airport after landing. Sixty-three passengers and five crew members were on board, and everyone was safely evacuated. The subsequent preliminary investigation identified several safety concerns, including the aircraft's inoperative autobrake, wet runway conditions, tailwind and issues concerning the runway-end environment, and control-tower visibility. The investigation remained ongoing.

These incidents should not be used to declare an airline or the entire Nigerian aviation industry unsafe. Investigations exist precisely because the causes of aviation occurrences need to be established through evidence.

But they should make us ask questions. 

Were there warning signs? 

Were procedures followed? 

Were maintenance requirements met? 

Were operational risks properly assessed? 

And when gaps are discovered, are corrective measures actually implemented? 

Although, NCAA has demonstrated that it can intervene, In January 2025, after a Max Air incident, the Authority required the airline to suspend domestic operations while it conducted safety and economic audits covering the airline's organization, procedures, personnel, and aircraft. Max Air later resumed operations after the audits were completed.

In May 2025, the NCAA also summoned Air Peace over complaints about delays and cancellations and directed the airline to align its operations with the aircraft available in its fleet.

These interventions matter, but they also raise another question: Should regulators always have to react after passengers complain or after an incident occurs, or can stronger surveillance identify problems before they become public crises?