Air Peace has challenged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority's August 2026 domestic-flight performance data, saying the regulator understated the number of flights it operated and therefore overstated its apparent delay rate.

What the NCAA figures say

Reports citing the NCAA's August data say Nigerian domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights during the month, of which 4,765 were delayed and 36 were cancelled. The same dataset recorded Air Peace as operating 1,864 flights, with 1,330 delays.

Those figures point to a difficult month for domestic aviation, but Air Peace says its own operational records differ materially from the regulator's count.

Air Peace says more than 700 flights were missing

Air Peace said it operated 2,564 flights in August rather than the 1,864 attributed to it in the NCAA report. The airline argues that omitting more than 700 flights from the denominator distorted its performance metrics and inflated the percentage of flights shown as delayed.

The carrier also said the report did not adequately reflect external causes of disruption, including factors outside an airline's direct control. It has called for closer scrutiny of the methodology behind the published figures.

The two datasets have not been publicly reconciled

At the time of publication, the difference between the regulator's reported flight count and Air Peace's stated figure has not been publicly reconciled in a way that allows FlyingEze to independently determine which dataset is complete.

For that reason, the NCAA figures and Air Peace's response should be read as competing accounts pending any further clarification, audit or revised publication from the regulator.

Why accurate delay data matters

Airline performance statistics influence passenger expectations, regulatory oversight and public assessments of operational reliability. Small changes in the number of completed flights used as the denominator can significantly alter an airline's reported delay percentage.

Clear definitions are also important. A useful performance report should explain what counts as a delay, how cancelled or rescheduled sectors are treated, and how disruptions caused by weather, airport infrastructure, air traffic restrictions or industrial action are classified.

FlyingEze will update this report if the NCAA publishes a formal response or revised August dataset.