Kenya Airways Apologizes For Ill-Treatment Of Nigerian Passenger At Meeting With NCAA
In a meeting with the Director for Consumer Protection and Public Affairs at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Michael Achimugu today, the Country Manager of Kenya Airways, James Nganga said in respect of the now viral case between a Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore, and Kenyan Airways: “I express 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.”
Achimugu had summoned the airline to his office and in attendance with Nganga were the Station Manager, Eric Mukira and Duty Manager, Ezenwa Ehumadu.
According to Achimugu, the outcome of the meeting was that NCAA “informed 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. According to the passenger, 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.
It was based on this information from Kenya Airways that she proceeded to purchase the ticket. 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 actually 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. 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-routing 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.”
Achimugu stated that 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 was compliance with the regulations, the staff would have handled the situation better, and it would never have escalated to the level it did.”
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 will be taken against their personnel, he said that his bosses in Nairobi would decide.
