Due To Flight Delay, Angry Passengers Block Abuja Airport

Many passengers have blocked the boarding gate of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after the delay of their flights.

Angry passengers told Economic Confidential on Monday morning that they had been at the airport since Sunday night to catch flights to different destinations.

At 8:36 a.m., Arik airline passengers who were due to take off at 7 p.m. Sunday were still in the terminal “with no explanation from flight workers or officials.”

“They had already delayed it from 7 to 9 last night. From 9:45 yesterday until now…” a passenger complained.

Images made available to my crew showed that many of the passengers spent an uncomfortable night at the airport, since the chairs inside the airport served as mattresses for dozens of them.

Passengers blocking the boarding gate at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja Passengers blocking the boarding gate at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja

Airline operators, in a letter on Friday, announced plans to suspend operations starting Monday over the high cost of jet fuel and other operating costs.

The airlines, however, reversed their decisions on Sunday night. Before the rollback, some airlines such as Ibom Air and Dana had said they would not join their colleagues in suspending operations.

The chairs inside the airport served as mattresses for dozens of passengers. The chairs inside the airport served as mattresses for dozens of passengers. Scene: Chairs inside the airport served as mattresses for dozens of passengers.

The information not to proceed with the boycott was conveyed in a letter signed by Serina Abdulmunaf, president of the Airline Operators Association, and co-signed by the CEOs of six domestic airline operators.

“…the AON has agreed to requests to withdraw the action for the time being while we allow a new round of dialogue with the government in the hope of reaching an amicable solution,” the letter read in part.

Airline operators said in a letter to Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on Friday that they will halt operations from Monday, amid an astronomical rise in aviation fuel.

In reaction to the letter, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, called on Nigerian airlines to suspend the planned closure of their operations from Monday due to the increase in the cost of aviation fuel from N190 to N700 per litre.

Following the move, four airlines separately withdrew from the plan and said they will continue operations. The airlines are Ibom Air, Arik, Air Peace, Aero Contractors and Dana.