A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited to pay a total of N13.08 million in damages and costs to a passenger, Mrs Joy Nneka Ezetah, over its failure to allow her board a scheduled Lagos–London flight, an incident that disrupted her onward trip to Canada and caused her financial loss and inconvenience.
The judgment was delivered on Monday by Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala, who held that the airline was liable for the losses suffered by Ezetah following the aborted journey at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on April 6, 2024.
Ezetah had approached the court seeking N100 million in general damages, alleging negligence after she was denied boarding despite purchasing a business-class ticket through Air Canada for a four-leg journey from Lagos to Toronto via London. She stated that she arrived at the airport on time, completed check-in successfully, and was issued a boarding pass for the Lagos–London leg, but was later stopped at the boarding gate.
According to her, airline officials claimed they could not link her booking to the connecting Air Canada flight from London to Toronto. She argued that Virgin Atlantic owed her a duty of care and should have resolved the issue with Air Canada or provided an alternative solution instead of denying her boarding. She also told the court that Air Canada later confirmed her ticket was valid and that she was scheduled to travel on the connecting flight to Toronto.
Virgin Atlantic denied liability, arguing that it was not the issuing carrier of the ticket, which was purchased directly from Air Canada under a code-share arrangement. The airline said an error code in its reservation system prevented it from issuing a boarding pass for the connecting flight and maintained that it advised the passenger to contact the ticket issuer. It also argued that her inability to complete online check-in indicated there was already an issue with the booking.
After evaluating the evidence and submissions, Justice Kala held that Ezetah had successfully proved her case. The court awarded her $5,906.50 in damages against Virgin Atlantic Airways and directed that the sum be converted to naira using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official exchange rate of N1,365.50 to the dollar, amounting to about N8.08 million.
The court also ordered the airline to pay 10 per cent annual interest on the judgment sum until full payment is made. In addition, Justice Kala awarded N5 million in costs against the airline, noting that the claimant was forced to go to court to enforce her rights. The total award and costs amount to approximately N13.08 million.
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