AIRLINES’ RIGHT TO REFUSE CARRIAGE NOT ABSOLUTE – OJUKWU

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, has clarified that airlines have the contractual right to refuse carriage to passengers, including imposing bans, but such rights are not absolute and remain subject to constitutional and statutory limitations. Ojukwu was reacting to recent comments by Dr. Monday Ubani SAN, who criticised the reported lifetime, industry-wide ban placed on Ms. Comfort Emmanson by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).

According to Ojukwu, the ability of airlines to restrict certain passengers is a standard practice globally, rooted in contract law and recognised under aviation regulations. “It is based on a simple offer and acceptance in contract,” Ojukwu explained, citing each airline’s Contract of Carriage and Article 27 of the Montreal Convention, domesticated under the Civil Aviation Act 2022, which expressly allows carriers to refuse to enter into any contract of carriage.

Ojukwu noted that bans can be imposed for reasons such as disruptive behaviour, violation of company policies, or security concerns. “It is an extreme stretch of the principles of fair hearing to ask airlines to set up courts to decide who to enter into contract with. All the talk about fair hearing and being the accuser and judge in your own case do not apply. We are not in court,” he said.

However, Ojukwu emphasised that because air travel is considered a special public-social service, decisions to ban passengers can be challenged under the Constitution, consumer protection laws, or anti-discrimination provisions if the reasons are false, unlawful, or unacceptable under Nigerian law. He noted that airlines are not always transparent with their reasons for a ban, and passengers have the right to appeal through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), or the courts.