From Suleiman Idris, Lagos
Most flight into the South South and South East parts of Nigeria were yesterday cancel as a result of inclement weather forcing passengers to seek alternative travel plans across many states.
Airports in Benin, Asaba, Owerri, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Uyo were all affected yesterday, passengers in Uyo who had booked for the morning flight on Arik and Aero thronged the airport to catch their flight only to be told otherwise.
Other airlines affected include Medview and Discovery with Port Harcourt been the major hit aerodrome.
A passenger, Lious who to our correspondent on phone, painted a gloomy picture of passengers’ endless wait for the arrival of an aircraft from Abuja and Lagos to pick outbound travellers at the Uyo airport without any hope.
He said “ most of us have resign to fate as it appears there will not be any plane from Lagos to airlift us to Ikeja, travellers going overseas are most hit as some of them are lamenting the prospect of missing their flight to Europe or America from Lagos”.
Our correspondent who visited the Lagos terminals also observed a packed departure hall as flight were postponed due to the weather situation as airline express regret and apologised for the situation over the speakers.
Spokesperson for Arik Air, Adebanji Ola told our reporter the airline has no choice than to cancel some flights as the weather bits harder, “it is all about the safety of the passengers first”, he said.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently warned pilots of adverse effects of the hamattan dust and advice them to take precautionary measure to ensure safety.
