British Airways, on Friday, stopped 58 passengers from boarding the airline’s Abuja-to-London flight at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Reports said that the passengers were offloaded from the plane over a faulty door.
The Director of Public Relations and Consumer Protection, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Michael Achimugu, confirmed the development via a statement on the social media platform X.
Achimugu noted that the action was taken for safety reasons, adding that affected travellers were offered hotel accommodation, with 30 passengers accepting and 28 choosing to return home.
The NCAA spokesperson stated: “British Airways discovered that some of the seats on their aircraft were bad. As a result, they had to deny 58 passengers boarding this morning.
“Hotel accommodation has been provided, and 28 passengers opted to return home, while 30 accepted the offer.
“Affected passengers can file for compensation. Arrangements are being made to airlift them tomorrow morning.
“May I say this: The first resort in situations like this is to locate the NCAA Consumer Protection Officers at the terminal, and they will ensure that your right to care is protected (if the airline delays).”
In another post on X, Achimugu wrote: “The actual problem was a faulty door. So, the seats around the door had to be kept unoccupied for SAFETY REASONS.”
