A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered Virgin Atlantic Airways to pay a Nigerian passenger more than 13 million naira (US$9,500) after finding the airline liable for wrongly denying her boarding on a flight to London, disrupting her onward journey to Canada and causing financial losses.
Justice Ibrahim Kala ruled that Mrs. Joy Ezetah was entitled to damages after the airline prevented her from boarding a scheduled Lagos-London flight on April 6, 2024, despite having completed check-in and obtained a boarding pass.
According to court documents, Ezetah had purchased a business-class ticket through Air Canada for a four-leg journey between Lagos and Toronto. She told the court that she arrived at the airport on time, checked in successfully and was issued a boarding pass for the Virgin Atlantic flight to London.
However, airline officials later stopped her from boarding, claiming they were unable to connect her booking to an Air Canada flight from London to Toronto.
Ezetah argued that Virgin Atlantic owed her a duty of care and should have resolved the issue with its airline partner or provided an alternative arrangement rather than denying her travel.
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She further testified that when she subsequently contacted Air Canada, the carrier confirmed that her ticket remained valid and that she was expected on the connecting flight.
Virgin Atlantic denied liability and told the court that an error code within its reservation system prevented the issuance of a boarding pass for the connecting segment of the journey.
The airline maintained that it acted professionally by advising the passenger to contact the ticket issuer. It also argued that Ezetah’s inability to complete online check-in before arriving at the airport indicated there had already been a problem with the booking.
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After reviewing evidence and legal submissions from both parties, Justice Kala found in favour of the claimant.
The court awarded Ezetah damages of $5,906.50, equivalent to approximately 8.07 million naira based on the prevailing exchange rate published by the Central Bank of Nigeria at the time of judgment.
Justice Kala also ordered that the judgment sum attract interest at a rate of 10 percent per year until the debt is fully settled.
In addition, the court awarded the claimant five million naira in legal costs, noting that she had been compelled to seek judicial intervention to obtain redress.
The combined award brings Virgin Atlantic’s financial liability in the case to more than 13 million naira, excluding any interest that may accrue before payment is made.
The judgment underscores the obligations airlines owe passengers under commercial aviation contracts and highlights the potential consequences of denying boarding without sufficient justification.
Neither Virgin Atlantic nor the claimant had publicly commented on the ruling as of Tuesday.
