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.
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.
