Kenya Airways begs NCAA over passenger maltreatment

Kenya Airways management has apologized to a Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore, for the mistreatment meted out to her days ago.

The airline tendered the apology during a meeting with the Director of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Michael Achimugu on Tuesday.

The airline was summoned to Abuja in respect of the now viral case between a Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore and its officials.

Achimugu noted that he must protect all stakeholders, including passengers and airlines carry out his duties with utmost respect to the regulations of the CAA.

In attendance were the airline’s Country Manager, James Nganga; Station Manager, Eric Mukira; and Duty Manager, Ezenwa Ehumadu.

Achimugu revealed to the airline that the passenger had called Kenya Airways via +254 711 024 747 on December 7, 2025, to inquire if she was qualified to fly the Manchester-Paris-Nairobi-Lagos (inbound) and Lagos-Nairobi-Paris-Manchester route, adding that the airline told her that she was qualified, despite her informing them that she is Nigerian, who holds a British resident permit, but no Shenghen visa.

According to the NCAA’s spokesperson, it was based on this information from Kenya Airways that she proceeded to purchase the ticket, adding that she flew the first leg into Nigeria via Paris and Nairobi with no incidence.

*The airline has asked for time to check their recorded call log and confirm if that call happened. They have been granted 48 hours to do so.

“For her outbound flight, the airline boarded and flew the passenger out of Lagos despite knowing that she needed a transit visa for the Paris leg. This fault was that of the airline, and it was only discovered in Nairobi.

He explained that upon discovery, the airline then offered Ms Gloria a direct flight to London at no extra cost to her, on the condition that she’d wait another 10 hours in addition to the 17-hour layover she had just endured.

Since she was bleeding and exhausted, the passenger demanded accommodation and care because the error was that of the airline. It was when she was denied care that an argument ensued between her and the airline counter staff.

“This is contrary to the intentionally misleading official statement by Kenya Airways claiming that the lady simply refused to re-route directly to London and started to throw pads around.

“Their team has apologized for the obfuscation of facts in that statement. They have also admitted that phone call or not, it was the fault of the airline not to have discovered the problem before airlifting the passenger from Lagos.

” At the NCAA, our regulations mandate all airlines operating in Nigeria to have dedicated customer relations desks/officers who are trained to mediate issues of this nature. If there had been compliance with the regulations, the staff would have handled the situation better, and it would never have escalated to the level it did.

“I expressed deep disappointment about the unruly Kenya Airways staff who insulted the office of the President of Nigeria, insinuating that the airline could do anything to Nigerians and nothing would happen.

“I asked if this manner of addressing customer complaints was the airline’s standard protocol. The country manager stated in very clear terms that the staff was out of order and apologized for the outburst. When asked what disciplinary measures would be taken against their personnel, he said that his bosses in Nairobi would decide.”, he said.

Wole Shadare