NCAA to take actions against Max Air, Air Côte d’Ivoire over passengers’ complaints

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said it will take actions against Max Air and Air Côte d’Ivoire over several complaints by passengers against these airlines.

This is also as the authority called out Max Air as the ‘most unresponsive domestic airline’ in the country regarding passenger complaints, according to fresh data from its Consumer Protection Department (CPD).

Michael Achimugu, NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, disclosed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, adding that the Authority also received disturbing reports of alleged threats by Max Air against travel agencies that reported customer-related issues.

“According to NCAA data, Max Air has been the most unresponsive domestic airline per passenger complaints and determinations by the NCAA CPD,” Achimugu wrote.

“In some cases, there have been allegations of threats to travel agencies for daring to report to the CAA. This will be put to a stop immediately,” he added.

Achimugu said the agency was taking the matter seriously and would take necessary actions to ensure compliance.

In addition to Max Air, Achimugu also raised concerns about Air Côte d’Ivoire,  deliberately cancelling flights on low-demand days and attempting to merge passengers into future flights to meet their target load.

“Air Côte d’Ivoire has been reported for cancelling flights on days when they do not have enough passengers,” Achimugu noted.

“They try to merge flights across days to meet preferred passenger numbers. Both cases will be handled expeditiously by the NCAA.”

While acknowledging that flight disruptions are sometimes unavoidable, the NCAA emphasised that compliance with regulations is non-negotiable.
“We support all airlines and understand that disruptions are sometimes inevitable, but adherence to civil aviation regulations is not a choice of convenience,” Achimugu stated