There’s a need for airlines in Nigeria to have a Air Passenger Protection Agreement. The Air Passenger Protection Agreement is a necessity in the Nigerian aviation industry because of the incessant flight delays and cancellations that’s the norm in the Nigerian aviation industry

No airline will deliberately delay or cancel a flight. The airline will loose money and would loose customers. Most flight disruptions in Nigeria are due to a myriad of factors. Technical and operational factors. The average fleet size of an airline in Nigeria is about 4

Each plane in the fleet of the airline is assigned to a route. Sometimes technical fault might happen to one of the airplanes in the airline’s fleet consequently resulting in either flight delays or cancellations because the aircraft isn’t available at the period

And the lack of aircraft affects the operations of the airline there by creating an operational problem. So thus, the small fleet size of most Nigerian airlines contributes to the flight disruptions air passengers regularly experience and hence

It explains the difficulties in getting compensation in a situation where the delay or cancellation is a result of a technical fault or operational problem. Part 19 of the NCAA regulations isn’t clear on what’s operational problem?

Asides that, many airlines in Nigeria prefer to stand alone than work together. Everyone wants to be alone . Having a Air Passenger Protection Agreement is advantageous to both the airlines and the passengers. If an airline is not able to operate a flight as a result

Of lack of aircraft or issues with its operations, it can enter into agreement with another airline to ferry its passengers to the same destination. This agreement will have a clause on revenue sharing between the airlines, movement of the affected passengers etc

Azman Air enters into an Agreement with Air Peace to airlift passengers booked on Azman flights from Lagos - Abuja. Azman’s flight gets cancelled because its aircraft has technical problems and is undergoing maintenance. Passengers booked on Azman Tickets can be transferred

To Air Peace and it will still be Azman’s ticket. Azman and Air Peace will share the revenue that generated as a result of the collaboration. The collaboration between two airlines will reduce the airline’s exposure to liabilities as a result of flight delays and cancellations

It will reduce the losses the airline might incur as a result of the flight disruption and for the passengers, once they are aware of a flight delay or cancellation, they don’t have to go through the inconveniences that comes with flight disruptions.

On the flip side, how it can be made effective is another issue because sometimes the plane belonging to the other airline signatory to the contract can be full. So what happens in such situation?