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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Altercations between passengers and crew members recently went viral on different social media outlets and ignited both informed and uninformed conversations on the rights and liabilities of passengers and crew members under the Nigerian civil aviation law. On Tuesday, August 7, 2025, a popular Fuji musician known as Wasiu Ayinde (K1 De Ultimate) (the "K1") was captured in viral footage supposedly blocking a ValueJet aircraft from taxiing at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.1 The footage showed that the pilot attempted to take-off notwithstanding the attempt to stop it from doing so. K1 narrated in his clarification video that he was denied boarding the aircraft over his resistance to allowing the cabin crew to inspect the contents of the hand-flask that he had brought into the cabin.2
A few days afterthis incident, another video footage sparked further "buzz" on social media on Sunday, August 10, 2025, where one Miss Comfort Emmanson (the "Emmanson") was undignifiedly dragged out of an aircraft operated by Ibom Airlines.3 In the press statement released by the airline on August 11, 2025, it was stated that Emmanson was instructed to switch off her mobile phone for take-off in line with standard aviation safety procedure which she refused to do until a fellow passenger took the phone and switched it off for the flight to take off.4 The pressstatement further stated that upon arrival at the point of destination in Lagos, there were further altercations which resulted in Miss Emmanson attempting to assault some of the crew members before she was forcibly removed from the aircraft.
These recent squabbles and the resultant public debates as to the legality or otherwise of the acts of the parties involved in these passenger-crew altercations prompted us to properly examine and analyze the rights and liabilities of passengers, airline operators and crew members under the Nigerian civil aviation law. In this article, we examined the statutory provisions governing airline-passenger rights and liabilities, including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (the "CFRN"), the Civil Aviation Act, 2022 (the "CAA"), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2023 (the "NCAR").
We conclude that the airline (including its crew) and the passenger each have respective rights and liabilities that accrue from their contractual relationship as well as from statutory provisions. Some of these rights include the passenger's right to be treated with dignity and non-discrimination, compensation for an unwarranted delay, denial or cancellation of flight, and compensation for a passenger's injury or death. On the other hand, the airline has the rights to overbook its flight, cancel or even delay a flight. We have expounded further on these rights and the accompanying liabilities in succeeding paragraphs of this Article. The likely ignorance or low awareness of the existence of these rights and liabilities by the relevant parties, in our opinion, contributed to the recent squabbles and resultant varying public reactions.
Notably, this article is subdivided into five parts. The first part is the introduction section, and the next part of the article discusses the nature of the passenger-air carrier relationship under contract. In the third part, we discuss the rights and liabilities of passengers and air carriers under the statute and the contract, while the fourth part contains our commentary on the recent altercations in the industry.
The last part of the article reflects our conclusion and recommendations. These are that both the air carriers and the passengers have rights and liabilities enshrined in the statutes and the carriage contracts signed by the parties. International conventions also provide specific standards for compliance by the relevant stakeholders. It has also become evident from the reactions of the members of the public on these issues that there is indeed a low level of awareness and understanding of these rights and liabilities in a passenger-air carrier relationship and a continued sensitization is required.
2.0 PASSENGER-AIR CARRIER RELATIONSHIP UNDER CONTRACT
The aviation industry, like most industries, involves multiple stakeholders such as the regulators, passengers, crew members, airlines, airport authorities, insurers, service providers. In addition to the relevant statutes, there are contracts such as the passenger-air carrier, aircraft charter, air-carrier-cargo owner, aircraft leasing, aircraft mortgage and security, aviation employment and airline-airline contracts that bind one or more stakeholders. In this section of the article, we have focused on the passenger-air carrier relationship as stipulated under the airline contract of carriage by air as impacted by statute and regulation.
A contract of carriage involves an agreement between a passenger and an air carrier (airline) by which the latter agrees to fly the former and/or his baggage from a point of departure to a point of destination. Notably, the contract of carriage becomes binding upon the execution/acceptance of the airline's terms and conditions by the passenger, after which a ticket will typically then be issued to the passenger.5 The contract, however, becomes operative upon embarkation, that is, when the passenger boards the aircraft.6
In every legal contractual agreement, each party is saddled with rights and liabilities which are enforceable in law. The situation is not different in contracts of carriage by air as both the passenger and the air carrier have their respective rights and liabilities as contained in the ticket,7 fare rules, the terms and conditions of the airline and the relevant laws and regulations. In the case of any inconsistency between the condition(s) of carriage and any extant statute or any regulation thereto, the statute/regulation prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.8 Moreover, where any particular condition(s) of carriage is invalid under any applicable law, other conditions of the carriage may remain valid and binding so long as they do not contradict any law.9
3.0 RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES OF PASSENGERS AND AIR CARRIERS
Generally, the rights and liabilities in passenger-air carrier relationships are stipulated by statutes and contracts. The rights and liabilities contained in relevant statutes are considered implied in any contract of carriage by air. On the other hand, a contract executed by the parties physically or electronically would also give rise to additional rights and liabilities not already provided under the law.
Due to the "superior" position of the air carriers, passengers are in practice typically unable to negotiate the terms and conditions of the carriage contract. In this section, we examine the general rights and liabilities of passengers and air carriers as contained in the conditions of carriage and under relevant statutes.
3.1 Rights of Passengers
To fully examine the rights and liabilities of passengers in Nigeria, recourse must be made to both the relevant contract as well as to the applicable laws. Most of the rights and liabilities under contracts are embedded in the relevant statute. Some of these rights include the rights to be informed, to carriage, to be compensated for delay, to baggage protection, to compensation, to non-discrimination, and of human dignity. Each of these rights is briefly explained below:
3.1.1 Right to Information
A passenger is entitled to be duly informed of the reason(s) for any cancellation, delay or denial of boarding the aircraft. Part 19 of the NCAR requires the passengers to be informed of any cancellation at least twenty-four (24) hours before the scheduled time of departure in the case of domestic flights, or seven (7) days prior in the case of international flights.10 In further protecting the right of information of passengers, NCAR obligates any operating airline to display a clearly legible notice in a manner that is clearly visible to passengers: "if you are denied boarding or if your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least one hour, ask the airline officials for a written statement of your right". 11 Besides, each passenger affected should be provided with a written notice setting out the procedures for compensation and assistance.12 The procedures for compensation are discussed later in this article.
Where a passenger is illiterate or suffers any disability, appropriate alternative means should be adopted to inform the passenger of his/her rights.13 In cases of tarmac delay after the doors of the aircraft are closed for take-off, the reason for the delay and status updates must be provided to the passengers every 30 minutes.14 A passenger is entitled to information about all documents required to be presented at check-in, check-in deadlines, refund and rebooking policies, and procedures concerning delayed and cancelled flights.15
The right of information of a passenger also extends to being informed, before purchasing the ticket, of all the terms and conditions of carriage (usually in an airline's fare rules and terms and conditions). Most airlines require their prospective passengers to accept these fare rules electronically before booking their flights. The format mostly used is "By clicking this box, I accept the airline's Fare Rules and Terms and Conditions as relating to my booking and use of my personal information".16
3.1.2 Right to Carriage and Safety
Upon the issuance of the air ticket, the passenger is entitled to be carried safely to his/her place of destination. The right to carriage of the passenger is, however, not absolute as it is always subject to the right of the air carrier to reasonably deny boarding, cancel or even delay the flight. This point was expatiated upon in the Nigerian case of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines v. Taher,17 where the court held that:
"...contracts of carriage by air are peculiar kind of contract because the airline can decide whether to fly or not to fly a passenger and his baggage. Therefore, an air traveller cannot assume that if he holds the air ticket of a particular airline, the airline must honour the flight arrangements. The conditions of carriage make it clear that the airline's promise to fly in the air ticket is highly conditional and that the passenger cannot legally force the airline to fly him on a particular flight. The conditions of carriage contain the airline's rights to deny boarding, delay or cancel the flight which apply even after the passenger has checked in ... Therefore, an agreement to carry a passenger or property in air transportation is deemed to include an agreement that the passenger or property will not be carried if the passenger's documentation is seen as being suspicious or if the passenger does not appear to be in possession of valid travel documents or appear to be fraudulent or otherwise suspicious. The decision by an airline to carry a passenger is discretionary based on the given circumstances. The most important aspect of that principle is that the discretion must be exercised reasonably."[
The right of the airline not to fly is, as earlier mentioned above, also subject to providing the passenger with adequate and timely feedback on that decision as well as paying the stipulated compensation. We now consider the right to compensation.
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Footnotes
1. Okiki Adeduyite 'NCAA stops Fuji Star K1 de Ultimate from Flying for Six Months' (Punch, August5, 2025) https://punchng.com/ncaa-to-blacklist-fuji-star-k1-de-ultimate-for-six-months-over-airport-conduct/ accessed on August 17, 2025.
2. The clarification video can be accessed at https://web.facebook.com/watch/?v=4005819849657316 accessed on August 17, 2025.
3. The video can be assessed via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlfbI8uFjRo accessed on August 17, 2025.
4. The press release can be accessed on the X account of Ibom Airline at https://x.com/ibomairlines/status/1954841363297574930/photo/1 accessed August 17, 2025.
5. This contract is usually disclosed in the "Terms and Conditions" section when booking an airline ticket, which must be accepted before the flight booking can be paid for and completed. Accepting these terms signifies that the passenger has read, understood and accepted to be bound by the "contract" for the flight. See also KLM Royal Dutch Airlines v. Taher (2014) 3 NWLR (Pt. 1393) 137.
6. Ibid.
7. Emirate Airline v. Ngonadi (No. 2) (2014) 10 NWLR (Pt. 1413) 506 at 536A-B.
8. E.g. ValueJet, 'Terms and Conditions: Agreement between you and ValueJet' Article 2.4.1 https://flyvaluejet.com/terms-and-conditions#article-2 accessed on September 20, 2025; IbomAir, 'Conditions of Carriage' Article 2.4 https://www.ibomair.com/conditions-of-carriage/ accessed on September 20, 2025.
9. E.g. ValueJet, 'Terms and Conditions: Agreement between you and ValueJet', Article 2.4.2
10. NCAR 2023, Part 19, regulation 19.7.1.1.
11. Ibid., regulation 19.17.1.1.
12. Ibid., regulation 19.17.1.2.
13. Ibid., regulation 19.17.1.3.
14. Ibid. regulation 19.6.3.
15. Ibid., regulation 19.21.
16. ValueJet, 'Your Trip Details' https://flyvaluejet.com/flight-result?requestInfo=dep:%27ABV%27,arr:%27JOS%27,on:%272025-10-15%27,till:%27%27,p.a:1,p.c:0,p.i:0 accessed on October 6, 2025.
17. (2014) 3 NWLR (Pt. 1393) 137.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
