By George Ozalla
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has urged air passengers whose baggage is missing or short-landed to complete a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) before leaving the airport terminal, stressing that the procedure is essential for effective tracking and resolution of baggage-related complaints.
The Authority made the appeal in a passenger advisory issued on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, following recurring cases involving baggage that fails to arrive with passengers at their destinations.
The NCAA said passengers should immediately report the situation and fill the PIR form at the airport whenever their baggage is missing or does not arrive with them.
“If your bag is missing/short-landed when you arrive at any airport, PLEASE, you MUST fill the Property Irregularity Report (PIR) form,” the Authority stated.
It warned that passengers who leave the airport without completing the form could make it more difficult for both the airline concerned and NCAA Consumer Protection Officers to investigate and resolve the complaint.
The Authority also rejected the excuse that passengers may be in too much of a hurry to complete the form, stressing that the PIR is an important part of the process for formally reporting missing or short-landed baggage.
According to the NCAA, failure to complete the report makes the subsequent tracking of a complaint more tedious and can complicate efforts to establish where the baggage was last recorded, trace it through the airline’s baggage-handling system and facilitate its recovery.
The Authority therefore advised passengers to treat the filing of the PIR as an immediate responsibility whenever they discover that their baggage has not arrived, rather than leaving the airport and attempting to report the matter later.
The warning is coming against the backdrop of the NCAA’s wider efforts to address baggage-related complaints in the Nigerian aviation sector. In August, the Authority disclosed plans to introduce Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology at domestic and international terminals to improve the tracking of checked baggage from check-in to final collection.
The NCAA had described missing, lost, delayed, short-landed and damaged baggage as among the major complaints received in the aviation industry, after flight delays. The proposed RFID system is expected to provide airlines and passengers with improved visibility of baggage movement and reduce cases of mishandling and misrouting.
Under the NCAA’s consumer protection framework, passengers have rights relating to baggage, including compensation for loss or damage. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations also provide that checked baggage may be presumed permanently and totally lost if it is not delivered within seven days for domestic flights and 21 days for international flights.
The NCAA Consumer Protection Department is responsible for protecting air passengers, monitoring airline compliance and handling complaints involving issues such as lost baggage, flight disruptions and ticket refunds.
The Authority’s latest advisory is therefore aimed at ensuring that passengers create an official record of baggage irregularities immediately they occur, giving both airlines and the regulator the necessary information to commence follow-up action.
Passengers who have unresolved complaints may also approach the NCAA Consumer Protection Department after first lodging the complaint with the airline’s Customer Affairs Unit. The NCAA’s complaint procedure requires passengers to provide relevant details and attach copies of supporting documents, including flight tickets and baggage tags where applicable.
