A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited to pay Mrs. Joy Ezetah $5,906.50 in damages after it refused to allow her board a scheduled Lagos–London flight, an incident that disrupted her onward journey to Canada and led to financial losses.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Ibrahim Kala of the Federal High Court, Lagos held that the airline was responsible for the losses suffered by the claimant after she was denied boarding at Murtala Muhammed International Airport on April 6, 2024.
Ezetah had approached the court seeking N100 million in general damages. She told the court she purchased a business-class ticket through Air Canada for a four-leg journey from Lagos to Toronto and back, but was stopped from boarding the Virgin Atlantic flight “without justification.”
She testified that she arrived early at the airport, completed check-in procedures, and was issued a boarding pass for the Lagos–London segment of the trip.
According to her, airline staff later barred her from boarding, saying they were unable to link her booking to her connecting Air Canada flight from London to Toronto.
Ezetah argued that the airline owed her a duty of care and should have resolved the issue with Air Canada or provided alternative arrangements instead of denying her boarding.
She further told the court that when she later contacted Air Canada, the airline confirmed that her ticket remained valid and that she was expected on the connecting flight.
In its defence, Virgin Atlantic denied responsibility, stating it was “not the issuing carrier” and maintained that the ticket had been purchased directly from Air Canada under a codeshare arrangement.
The airline also claimed that an error code in its reservation system prevented it from issuing a boarding pass for the connecting leg, insisting it acted professionally by advising the passenger to contact the ticket issuer.
It further argued that the claimant’s inability to complete online check-in before arriving at the airport indicated that there was already an underlying issue with the booking.
After evaluating the evidence and legal arguments from both parties, Justice Kala ruled that Ezetah’s case had merit.
The court awarded her $5,906.50 in damages against Virgin Atlantic and ordered that payment be made using the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate.
Based on the highest official rate of N1,365.50 to the dollar, the sum amounts to about N8.07 million.
The judge also ordered the airline to pay 10 per cent annual interest on the judgment sum until full payment is made.
In addition, the court awarded N5 million in costs against Virgin Atlantic, noting that the claimant was compelled to go to court to enforce her rights.
