Ronke Kehinde/
Aviation authorities, on Tuesday, shut down the Lagos airport due to poor visibility caused by harmattan haze. Visibility is said to have been reduced to 10 metres, which is far below the acceptable minimum level of 100 metres.
As a result of this development, a Dana Airlines’ flight from Abuja to Lagos, around 11am, was aborted about 15 minutes from landing at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2), Ikeja, Lagos and was told to return to Abuja.
A Med-View Airline flight from Abuja to Lagos was said to have suffered a similar fate
Investigations by NewsmakersNG revealed that the situation has affected most other airports across the country, as all flights to south-south and south-east from Abuja have either been cancelled or postponed indefinitely.
Also, it was learned that a scheduled flight to Yola, which was boarded about two hours ago eventually failed to depart Abuja, as passengers were disembarked about 30 minutes ago.
A passenger on the aborted Dana flight told NewsmakersNG that the pilot had earlier announced they were about 17 minutes away from landing in Lagos, but shortly afterwards announced that they were returning to Abuja because the Lagos airport had been shut down due to poor visibility.
Another affected passenger, Festus Akanbi, stated in a Facebook post: “What an experience for air travellers today? Bad weather in Lagos has left thousands of passengers (including yours sincerely) stranded at Abuja airport. Our 9am flight had to be aborted 17 minutes to landing in Lagos due to bad weather. We returned to Abuja and the waiting game has continued. All flights to south-south and south-east cancelled. No flight from Lagos and none to Lagos as at 3:15pm. We are all still waiting.”
Also, sources at the Abuja airport told NewsmakersNG that the development did not affect international flights, as scheduled flights on Ethiopian and Lufthansa airlines have already departed.
Some of the affected passengers painted a picture of total chaos at the departure lounge of the Abuja airport, where hundreds of passengers have been waiting for several hours.
In a related development, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a N6million fine to Arik Air Limited for contravening the provisions of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations.
The agency also ordered the airline to pay its passengers, whose baggage were delayed on the London to Lagos route between December 2 and December 4, $150 each as compensation.
The authority disclosed this in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Relations, Mr. Sam Adurogboye.
The statement said the letter of sanction with reference no. NCAA/DG/CSLA/RM/1-06/16/439 and dated December 22, has already been sent to the airline.
NCAA said it had discovered that Arik Air violated Part 19.7.2 and 19.17.2.1 (ii) of the Nig.CARs 2015.
According to the statement, the authority was earlier inundated with complaints of delay and inability to ferry the passengers’ checked – in luggage on the airline’s services from London to Lagos from December 2 to December 4.
It said upon receipt of the complaints, the NCAA invited the airline to a meeting on December 6, which was duly attended by the airlines’ representative.
“However, Arik embarked on continuous flouting of the Nig.CARs and the authority’s directives to freight all backlog of short – landed baggage to Lagos within 48 hours,” the statement said.
“Similarly, the carrier declined to offer care and compensation to the affected passengers which were unanimously agreed for $150 to each passenger.
“In addition, the airline did not inform the passengers at the soonest practicable time that their checked – in baggage would be off – loaded as required by Part 19.7.2 of Nig.CARs 2015.”
It added that the N6 million must be paid within seven days of receipt of the letter while the $150 compensation to each of the passengers must be made within 30 days.
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