Kenya Airways
Nigerians have taken to social media to applaud the professional intervention of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in the matter in which a Nigerian, Gloria Omisore, was badly treated by Kenya Airways officials leading to her deportation to Nigeria.
Nigerians pointed to the provocation and unprofessional manner the airline staffers treated the Nigerian who was on a long trip from Lagos through Kenya to Paris and then Manchester.
In a viral video, the passenger (Omisore) can be heard yelling: ‘You will provide me a sanitary towel. You cannot take my phone. You cannot take my phone.
‘I will speak with the Minister of Finance in Nigeria, you will see.’
But the angry airline staffer shouts back at her, telling her to ‘call the president of Nigeria. Call the president of Nigeria.
‘You will not fly on the Kenya Airways. You will never enter our airline again. Call your president. Call the Nigerian president.
‘We are not going to give you anything. You are not going to fly on our airways again.’
Some condemned the response of the airline staffer as “primitive and unprofessional.”
The crux of the matter was that Omisore does not have a Schengen though she planned to stop over in Paris. This made the airline staff to try to re-route her flight to London as she does not have a valid Schengen visa to enable her stop over in Paris.
But those familiar with aviation procedure blamed Kenya Airways officials for allowing her board from Lagos in the first place as they ought to have counselled her on the impossibility of such itinerary.
“What the heck, was she not checked in from Lagos. Why didn’t the airline staff notice that from the onset. Damn unprofessional bunch..”, raged a respondent on X.
Others clawed into Kenya Airways past misdemeanours, wondering why the airline does not always adopt international best practices.
Meanwhile Kenya Airways officials have tendered an unreserved apology to the NCAA and Gloria Omisore following the complaint.
The airline also retracted previous statements regarding the incident, admitting fault for allowing Omisore to board a flight from Lagos without the necessary transit visa.
The apology came during a meeting convened by the NCAA attended by airline representatives including Country Manager James Nganga, Station Manager Eric Mukira, and Duty Manager Ezenwa Ehumadu, alongside NCAA Director of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, Michael Achimugu.
Omisore, a British resident permit holder without a Schengen visa, had purchased a ticket for a Manchester-Paris-Nairobi-Lagos (inbound) and Lagos-Nairobi-Paris-Manchester route.
While her inbound journey proceeded without issue, the airline failed to identify the need for a Paris transit visa for her outbound leg until she reached Nairobi.
Kenya Airways tried to make it by offering a direct flight to London at no extra cost after a 17-hour layover, the situation escalated when Omisore’s request for accommodation and care due to the airline’s error was denied, leading to what the NCAA termed an “unruly” exchange.
In their first statement, Kenya Airways was cocky, claiming Omisore refused the re-routing and acted disruptively. They have, however, retracted the statement which many Nigerians described as arrogant and unprofessional. The airline admitted their error and apologised for the “obfuscation of facts.”
In the aftermath of the burst-up, the NCAA had given Kenya Airways 48 hours to verify a phone call made by Omisore on December 7, 2025, where she reportedly inquired about her eligibility to fly the route.
The authority also expressed strong disapproval of comments made by airline staff allegedly insulting the office of the Nigerian President, stating the airline could not act with impunity towards Nigerians.
The country manager apologised for the staff’s behavior, promising disciplinary action.
