KEY POINTS

• A Lagos court ordered Virgin Atlantic to pay $5,906.50 in damages for denying a passenger boarding.
• The court added N5m in costs and 10 percent annual interest until full payment.
• The airline argued an Air Canada codeshare error blocked the connecting boarding pass.

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited to pay Mrs. Joy Ezetah $5,906.50 in damages after the airline refused to let her board a scheduled Lagos-London flight. The denial disrupted her onward trip to Canada and caused her financial loss.

Why the court ruled against the airline

In a judgment on Monday, Justice Ibrahim Kala held the airline liable for the losses Ezetah suffered after staff denied her boarding at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on April 6, 2024. The claimant had sought N100 million in general damages, arguing that she bought a business-class ticket through Air Canada for a four-leg trip from Lagos to Toronto and back, but the airline stopped her from boarding “without justification.”

According to Ezetah, she arrived early, completed check-in and received a boarding pass for the Lagos-London leg. However, airline officials later prevented her from boarding, saying they could not connect her ticket to her Air Canada flight from London to Toronto. She argued that the airline owed her a duty of care and should have resolved the issue with Air Canada or made other arrangements. Moreover, she said Air Canada later confirmed that her ticket was valid and that it expected her on the connecting flight.

The airline’s defense and the award

Virgin Atlantic, however, denied liability. The airline said it was “not the issuing carrier” and insisted that the passenger had bought the ticket directly from Air Canada under a codeshare arrangement. Furthermore, it argued that an error code in the reservation system blocked the boarding pass for the connecting flight, and that it acted professionally by advising her to contact the ticket issuer. It also contended that her failure to complete online check-in pointed to an existing problem with the ticket.

After reviewing the evidence and legal authorities, Justice Kala held that the claimant’s case had merit. Consequently, the court awarded $5,906.50 in damages and directed the airline to pay at the prevailing Central Bank exchange rate, which at N1,365.50 to the dollar translates to about N8.07 million. In addition, the judge ordered 10 percent annual interest on the sum until full payment and awarded N5 million in costs. Ultimately, he noted that the claimant had to approach the court to enforce her rights.