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Tag: Kenya Airways

  • Kenya Airways pays fine over consumer-related infraction

    Kenya Airways pays fine over consumer-related infraction

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has confirmed that Kenya Airways has paid a fine imposed on it over consumer protection-related infractions.

    Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, noting that while the timeframe for resolving the cases has elapsed, the payment of fines does not mark the end of the issues.

    The NCAA had, in a letter dated May 7, 2025, sanctioned the airline for violations involving Gloria Omisore and two other passengers.

    The post confirming the payment of fine reads, “After a number of meetings, including a visit to the NCAA by the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria and officials from the airline and JKIA, Kenya Airways has, on Wednesday 17/09/2025, paid the sanction fee as a penalty for the Gloria Omisore and other consumer protection-related infractions.

    “As always, NCAA sanctions are not to punish operators, but to help improve their flight operations, especially with regard to safety and passenger handling protocols.

    Read Also: NCAA sanctions Kenya Airways over consumer protection infractions

    “Kenya Airways has a long-standing relationship with Nigeria, and we look forward to improvements in their Nigerian operations.

    “The sanctions do not diminish the positive aspects of the airline’s operations. This was a case-specific penalty.

    “While commending the airline for complying with the determination of the NCAA, we must remind that the timeframe for the resolution of the cases for which this sanction was announced has since elapsed.

    “Therefore, the payment of sanction fines does not conclude the issues. The NCAA will follow through and is assuring both passengers and airlines of its commitment to protecting their rights and responsibilities”.

  • NCAA sanctions Kenya Airways over consumer protection infractions

    NCAA sanctions Kenya Airways over consumer protection infractions

    The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has issued a letter of sanction to Kenya Airways for its consumer protection infractions concerning the case of a Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore.

    Kenya Airways, according to NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu got the big stick for penalties including: right to care, failure to provide full disclosure of terms of carriage, failure to respond to the Authority’s request, failure to process refund as well as compensation, and lost baggage.

    In addition to the fine which Achimugu said is in line with the NCAA Regulations 2023, the airline has been given seven days to pay the refunds and compensation of 1000 special drawing rights to the affected passengers.

    READ ALSO: FULL LIST: Nigeria, others not indebted to IMF

    Failure to comply with the letter, he affirmed, will attract stiffer penalties for the airline.

    In February, NCAA summoned Kenya Airways to its headquarters in Abuja over a social media video showing a heated exchange between Omisore and a Kenya Airways’ agent at the airline’s transfer desk in Nairobi.

    Omisore, who was traveling from Lagos to Nairobi, Paris and Manchester via the carrier, complained about inhumane treatment by the airline to which Kenya Airways admitted fault.

  • NCAA to sanction Kenya Airways over consumer protection infractions

    NCAA to sanction Kenya Airways over consumer protection infractions

    The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), weekend, said it is initiating maximum enforcement action against Kenya Airways for a large number of consumer protection infractions.

    The regulatory body said it had put its legal department on notice to ensure due process is followed in addressing issues bordering on cases of refunds not paid, lost baggage not compensated despite admitting to losing them, and failure to honour commitments.

    NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu disclosed this while giving an update on the development concerning the maltreatment of Nigerian passengers by the East African carrier.

    Achimugu said following the maltreatment of a Nigerian passenger: Gloria Omisore the regulatory authority has begun steps to call the carrier to order.

    He said Kenya Airways had been serially violating regulations issued by the NCAA.

    He said, ”The NCAA gave the airline an opportunity to fix what was wrong. The airline has failed to do so.

    “Earlier yesterday, the airline asked for an extension of one hour, after which they still failed to comply with the determination of the CAA.

    Read Also: Nigeria must build economy that can weather all storms – Makinde

    “On Thursday, in a separate issue, the airline failed to send in a compliance report about a scheduled flight that was delayed for seven hours with no compensation for the passengers.

    “When confronted over a phone call, the Kenya Airways team claimed ignorance of the NCAA Regulations. We are sending them a copy of it. But, how can you operate in a foreign country with no recourse to the relevant regulations? How is this different from those who claimed that Omisore should have known the travel documents she needed for her trip?

    “To this end, we are organising a retreat for ALL airlines operating in Nigeria to learn and relearn Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023. One would expect that knowledge of all necessary regulations is essential.

    “Added to the other long-ignored cases read out to the KQ team that attended the meeting, the CAA is dismayed by the actions of this airline.”

    Part of the steps include directing the Country Manager of Kenya Airways in Nigeria to apologize for the incident involving Gloria Omisore.

    Achimugu said :” The airline  has admitted that it  should never have boarded the passenger from Lagos. The airline failed to discover the lack of a France transit visa and flew this passenger to Nairobi where she had a 17-hour layover, only to be told that she would have to endure a further 10-hour wait if she must be flown to the UK.

    “The passenger then asks to be provided care for that 10-hour period as she is bleeding and needs to bathe. The actions of the airline staff following her request were down to poor passenger handling. Gloria Omisore was not an unruly passenger on the first leg of the flight, nor was she rude on the Lagos-Nairobi flight.

    “We put the facts of the matter to the airline and it rejected the misleading official statement that they put  out to the public.

    “The determination was for the airline to update its initial statement to reflect the facts of the case. There has been no compliance. Rather, the original statement that obfuscated facts, in all of its royal ‘misleading-ness’, has been allowed to grow wings and fly.

    “Take the blog post by one Charles Onyango-Obbo for instance. The writer still asserts that Gloria Omisore blatantly refused the offer to fly to London. This lie is being told despite the admission of Kenya Airways Country Manager in Nigeria, James Nganga, that the passenger only became frustrated when the 10-hour wait attached to that offer did not come with accommodation.

    “This was a bleeding woman who had already experienced the inconvenience of a 17-hour layover. She needed to clean up, and possibly have a bath. If the airline was not going to provide the care, its staff could have handled the matter professionally. In the viral video, the airline’s staff could be heard hurling insults and raising her voice in response to the infuriated passenger.”

    Achimugu said James Nganga admitted in one of the videos below, that the staff’s behaviour was against airline policy.

    He went on:” The writer also claimed that the meeting between my team and the airline was held in Lagos. Simple research would have told him that the NCAA HQ is in Abuja. This is what happens when people are more interested in narrative creation rather than facts. They know their audience.

    “Truth shouldn’t be hard to tell.”

    ” Cases of refunds not paid, lost baggage not compensated for despite admitting to losing them, and failure to honour commitments.

    “The NCAA is, therefore, initiating stiff enforcement action against Kenya Airways. This action will go through due process. I have put our legal department on notice.”

  • NCAA takes enforcement action against Kenya Airways over passenger rights violations

    NCAA takes enforcement action against Kenya Airways over passenger rights violations

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced strict enforcement measures against Kenya Airways for multiple consumer protection violations, including the airline’s failure to apologise, refund, and compensate Nigerian traveler Gloria Omisore within the mandated 48-hour period.

    According to NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, despite requesting a one-hour extension beyond the 48-hour deadline, Kenya Airways did not comply with the regulatory body’s directive.

    The incident was further exacerbated by the airline’s failure to submit a compliance report regarding a seven-hour flight delay, which left passengers without compensation. When confronted, the airline reportedly claimed ignorance of NCAA Regulations.

    Achimugu expressed concerns about Kenya Airways’ operations, stating, “How can a company operate in a foreign country without recourse to the relevant regulations? To this end, we are organising a retreat for all airlines operating in Nigeria to learn and relearn Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.”

    He detailed the mishandling of Omisore’s journey, revealing that Kenya Airways flew her from Lagos to Nairobi without verifying her transit visa requirements for France. As a result, she faced a 17-hour layover, followed by an additional 10-hour wait in Nairobi.

    Read Also: NCAA seeks structured procurement system

    “Passenger then asks to be provided care for that 10-hour period as she is bleeding and needs to bathe. The actions of the airline staff following her request were down to poor passenger handling. Gloria Omisore was not an unruly passenger on the first leg of the flight, nor was she rude on the Lagos-Nairobi flight,” Achimugu emphasized.

    The NCAA noted that the airline issued a misleading statement about the incident, which the regulatory body rejected.

    “The determination was for the airline to update its initial statement to reflect the facts of the case. There has been no compliance,” Achimugu stated.

    The NCAA has now initiated stiff enforcement action against Kenya Airways, putting its legal department on notice. “This action will go through due process,” Achimugu concluded.

  • Kenya Airways begs NCAA over passenger maltreatment

    Kenya Airways begs NCAA over passenger maltreatment

    Kenya Airways officials have tendered an unreserved apology to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and a Nigerian passenger:  Gloria Omisore, following a complaint of mistreatment during a recent flight.

    The airline also retracted previous statements regarding the incident, admitting fault for allowing Omisore to board a flight from Lagos without the necessary transit visa.

    The apology came during a meeting convened by the NCAA attended by airline representatives including Country Manager James Nganga, Station Manager Eric Mukira, and Duty Manager Ezenwa Ehumadu, alongside NCAA Director of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, Michael Achimugu.

    Omisore, a British resident permit holder without a Schengen visa, had purchased a ticket for a Manchester-Paris-Nairobi-Lagos (inbound) and Lagos-Nairobi-Paris-Manchester route.

    While her inbound journey proceeded without issue, the airline failed to identify the need for a Paris transit visa for her outbound leg until she reached Nairobi.

    Read Also: Kenya Airways team up with Lagos City Marathon

    Although Kenya Airways offered a direct flight to London at no extra cost after a 17-hour layover, the situation escalated when Omisore’s request for accommodation and care due to the airline’s error was denied, leading to what the NCAA termed an “unruly” exchange.

    In a prior statement, Kenya Airways claimed Omisore refused the re-routing and acted disruptively. They have since retracted this, admitting their error and apologizing for the “obfuscation of facts.”

    The NCAA had given Kenya Airways 48 hours to verify a phone call made by Omisore on December 7, 2025, where she reportedly inquired about her eligibility to fly the route.

    The authority also expressed strong disapproval of comments made by airline staff allegedly insulting the office of the Nigerian President, stating the airline could not act with impunity towards Nigerians.

    The country manager apologized for the staff’s behavior, promising disciplinary action.

    The NCAA has reiterated its call for all airlines operating in Nigeria to adhere to regulations and establish dedicated, trained customer relations desks or officers to handle such issues.

  • Kenya Airways commences flights to Mauritius

    Kenya Airways has increased its flight operations in Africa with four times weekly flight to Mauritius, as the airline seeks to re-establish itself in the aviation market following troubled times.

    Kenya Airways already has an existing code-share agreement on Air Mauritius three weekly flights to Nairobi. The new service complements the existing operations and allows both airlines to offer passengers daily service between Nairobi – Mauritius with a major beneficiary being the newly launched flights to New York.

    “We are very excited by this new opening that will allow daily connections between two of the most attractive countries in the region,” said the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Sebastian Mikosz.

    “The direct flights will enable reliable and convenient connectivity and in doing so make Mauritius more accessible to our guests in their bid for economic exchange and particularly tourism,” he added.

    The route will be operated by an Embraer E190, with a configuration of 12 business class seats and 84 economy class seats. Direct operations will commence in June 2018.

  • ‘Kenya Airways may be shut any moment’

    ‘Kenya Airways may be shut any moment’

    Kenya Airways may be shut any moment from now, following the insertion ‘performance based leave’ clause for its Nigerian staff, The Nation gathered on Monday.

    The new development is creating unease in the Nigerian aviation sector.

    Sequel to the ugly development, the  National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) has, however, petitioned the management of the airline over what it described as obnoxious law, stressing that it would not allow it to stand.

    The petitioner also copied the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Minister of State for Aviation, Commissioner of Police, Airport Command and Director, State Security Services.

    A petition dated September 11, 2017 with the reference number NUATE.GS/CM.KA/ENP/0015-17, signed by the General Secretary of NUATE, Mr Olayinka Abioye and made available to our correspondent said that despite the lucrativeness of the Nigerian route to the airline, the country’s staff working with the airline were treated as slaves.

    According to the petition, Kenya Airways earned over N10 billion between April 2015/2016 to March 32017, out of which the entire total staff cost for the airline was a mere 1.7 percent.

    The union said that it had been in talks with the management of the airline in the past three years for the review of the condition of service of the workers, but decried that the management reversed almost all the agreements it reached with it without recourse to it.

    The petition added: Rising from the Lagos meeting, management pleaded for two weeks within which to get back to us, which later turned out to be almost two months. This negative disposition notwithstanding, we honoured the August meeting with high hopes considering the fact that the only issue yet to be settled was that of the appropriate percentage to be paid Nigerian workers of KQ (Kenya Airways) on leave allowance.

    “But, the meeting turned upside down with new management proposal of performance-based clause tied to the payment of leave allowance, which is clearly alien to the Nigerian legislation and applicable labour laws.”

    NUATE in the petition said that it rejected in totality the management’s decision to cancel matters already reviewed and agreed upon in Lagos with the airline’s team.

    The petitioners also condemned the alleged executive recklessness of the management to cancel the payment of arrears of monies that was due to workers arising from review of salaries, allowances and other ancillary matters in their collective bargaining agreement.

    The union immediately demanded the restitution of all the agreements reached in Lagos and immediate setting the appropriate machinery in motion to commence its implementation.

    It warned that failure of the airline to address all the issues raised within 14 days, threatening that it would not hesitate to cripple its operations in the country.

    According to investigations, the airline in its new policy for the country’s workers said that payment of leave for the staff would be based on their performance on the job while workers would not be entitled to leave allowance during public holidays, which is a reverse from the present policy.

    With the new policy, rather than the 100 percent lave allowances workers are entitled to, they would now be paid between 10 to 100 percent, depending on the recommendation of the Human Resources Managers of the airline in the country and Kenya.

    Apart from this, the workers and their union’s leaders, also alleged that all previous agreements reached with the management of the airline in Lagos were cancelled by its management in its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

    The new policy of the airline has, however, angered the workers and industry unions who said the policy was against the Nigerian labour laws and issued the airline 14 days ultimatums to address the issue.

  • Kenya Airways issues free ticket to competition winner

    THE Kenya Airways (KQ) has fulfilled the pledge of a free ticket to Nairobi to the winner of the 7th Travelscope Youth Tourism & Hospitality Leaders Forum Essay Competition held on May 5, 2016 at Jogor Centre, Ibadan.

    The organiser of the event and Managing Editor, Travelscope Magazine, Omololu Olumuyiwa, while presenting the KQ ticket to the winner, Ebenezer Oyawale, lauded the airline for their unflinching support and great passion for youth tourism advancement.

    “With the KQ flight ticket, Kenya Airways has further demonstrated that Africans should embrace one another to explore the tourism potential within the continent that cannot be experienced in any other continents”, Olumuyiwa said.

    Oyawale, a tourism management student of Federal Polytechnic, Ede, in his response shortly on receiving the ticket, said: “For me, this trip to Kenya is a dream come true knowing that the country is one of the leading safari destinations in Africa.

    “Kenya Airways and Travelscope have reawakened my passion for tourism.  I have earlier gained at the educative tourism forum and with this flight ticket, I have another opportunity for sight-seeing and practical exploration of the tourism potentials in Kenya”,Oyawale said.

    Olumuyiwa further said: “The annual forum is organised as a platform to provide an opportunity to engage youths and stakeholders with interest in tourism. They will actively participate in the educative forum as a way to orientate and as well uplift their lives to contribute positively towards sustainable development of the sector in Nigeria”.

  • Foreign airline’s flight reduction, a blessing – Expert

    Foreign airline’s flight reduction, a blessing – Expert

    A former President of the Aviation Round Table (ART), Capt. Dele Ore, on Wednesday, said that the reduction of flight operations in Nigeria by some foreign airlines was a blessing in disguise.

    Ore, who made the assertion in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, urged indigenous airlines to take advantage of the move to secure a greater share of the market.

    Recall that two foreign airlines, Emirates Airlines and Kenya Airways recently announced the suspension of their flights to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

    While Emirates Airlines said it would stop the flights to Abuja effective Oct. 22, Kenya Airways said its flights to the nation’s capital would be suspended from Nov. 15.

    Both airlines had attributed their decisions to the economic downturn in the country, foreign exchange scarcity and the shrinking passenger traffic on international routes.

    However, Ore said the restriction on foreign exchange by the Federal Government had exposed the antics of some foreign airlines in the country.

    He said: “How many Nigerians are employed by them? It’s all capital flight. If the government didn’t do that, we will not know how much money is leaving our economy but now it is obvious.

    “The ones who feel that because they cannot repatriate their funds are free to go back to their countries.

    “This is what will encourage the Nigerian government to support indigenous airlines’’.

    Ore also called for the review of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASAs) entered by Nigeria with some countries which had been having a negative effect on domestic airlines.

    “Today, we have no share of the market. Foreign carriers have 97 percent of the passenger traffic in this country, while Nigerian carriers have only three per cent.

    “So, it is difficult for Nigerian airlines to survive except government reviews some of its policies, especially the BASAs which allows for multiple entries for foreign airlines.

    “In the past, foreign carriers were only allowed one entry into the country which helped to strengthen the operations of domestic airlines.

    “But now, a foreign airline is allowed to go to Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt with 21 frequencies and modern aircraft, so, it is difficult for Nigerian carriers to compete.

    “For them to do that, they will require nothing less than 50 modern aircraft, so the policy from the government must change first and foremost,’’ he said.

  • Kenya Airways lays off 80 workers

    Kenya Airways on Friday laid-off 80 of its staff in the first phase of a major restructuring as part of efforts to cut costs and increase revenue.

    The Airline’s CEO, Mbuvi Ngunze, said the restructuring would affect various departments and all cadres of staff.

    He however explained that the process would be in compliance with labour laws, Collective Bargaining Agreements and individual staff members’ contracts as appropriate.

    “The decision communicated above is not made lightly,” Ngunze said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

    “I also want to thank our people affected in this process for their commitment and hard work and wish them every success in their future endeavors,” he added.

    Kenya Airways, which had been recording reduced profits for the last four years, embarked on a programme dubbed Operation Pride last year.

    The programme is aimed at improving profitability, revisit operating model and network and seek long-term sustainable financial structure.

    Ngunze said the company had made substantial changes on some aspects of its business in the last few months.

    “We are on track with our plan, having successfully implemented some of the initiatives such as the sale and sub-lease of aircraft, reduction of waste in catering and renegotiation of some contracts,” he said.