Market News
Flight delays, cancellations beyond airlines – Domestic operators - PUNCH
BY Anozie Egole
Domestic carriers under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria have explained that 80 per cent of flight delays and cancellations are due to factors beyond their control.
This is even as the group condemned the recent attack by some passengers on the staff of Max Air and the wanton destruction of airline’s property due to flight delays.
Some passengers of the airline at the Abuja airport had gone berserk over the delay of their flight, venting their anger on the airline staff and destroying the facilities of the airline.
The President, AON, Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, in statement, said airlines in Nigeria were forced to operate in an environment with poor infrastructural facilities.
He said, “In Nigeria, 80 per cent of the causes of delays and cancellations are due to factors that are not in the control of airlines. Airlines operating in Nigeria are forced to operate in an environment that is wrought with infrastructure deficiencies that are highly disruptive to normal schedule reliability and on time performance.
“Some of the more prevalent causes of delays and cancellations include: unavailability and rising cost of Jet A1 (which today costs above N585 per litre in Lagos, N607 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N685 in Kano), inadequate parking space for aircraft on the apron sometimes leading to ground accidents, inadequate screening and exit points at departure, inefficient passenger access and facilitation, natural and unforeseen circumstances such as weather and catastrophic failures (e.g. bird strikes & component failures), and restrictions caused by sunset airports among others.”
He added, “The Airline Operators of Nigeria hereby condemns in the strongest terms the recent attack by some unruly passengers on staff of Max Air and the wanton destruction of the airline’s properties due to a flight delay. The unfortunate development further heightens our deepest concern and worry over the increasingly deplorable state of security and the rising threat to the lives of airline staff and their properties at Nigerian airports.”
