Travel chaos as plane blocks Abuja runway

Thousands of air passengers travelling to and out of Abuja were stranded yesterday following the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport after a cargo aircraft run into runway repair machines on Wednesday night. Airport officials told Daily Trust that the Saudi Air plane from Jeddah, which was ferrying military hardware, taxied beyond the portion […]

Thousands of air passengers travelling to and out of Abuja were stranded yesterday following the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport after a cargo aircraft run into runway repair machines on Wednesday night.

Airport officials told Daily Trust that the Saudi Air plane from Jeddah, which was ferrying military hardware, taxied beyond the portion of the runway in use and hit equipment for repair of the remaining part of the runway that was closed.
About 1,100 metres of the runway was undergoing repair work and was therefore closed.
In-bound pilots were told the distance available so that they could end taxiing within the open runway.
But the Saudi plane went beyond this point, thereby running into the repair equipment, an official told Daily Trust.
It was not clear if the pilot was told beforehand of the repair work and the runway distance affected.
The incident happened at about 10.12pm Wednesday, according to aviation authorities.
It took 17 hours before the plane was towed away, as the cargo was not first evacuated to lighten the aircraft.
Sources said the plane was loaded with armour tanks, explosives and other weapons.
Troops cordoned off the airport runway area, apparently guarding the military equipment in the plane.
The airport was closed while the plane was being evacuated, thereby forcing in-bound international flights that were already airborne to divert to Lagos.
The British Airways flight scheduled to arrive in Abuja around 5.30am yesterday, diverted to Lagos instead.
Local flights which were to begin arrivals and departures from about 7am, except Arik’s 7am flight to Lagos, were cancelled, affecting thousands of travelers.
Arik Air, the biggest domestic airline, operates 8 flights from Lagos into Abuja and another 8 flights from Abuja to Lagos every day.
Aero Contractors, the second largest domestic carrier, operates 6 daily flights from Lagos to Abuja and 6 from Abuja to Lagos.
Apart from the lone Arik flight to Lagos, all the rest were cancelled yesterday, along with dozens of flights of several other airlines plying the Abuja route.
But a small plane belonging to Overland landed at about 3.20pm, despite the shutdown, while three small chartered planes were also seen taking off between 3 and 4pm.
International flights, including Ethiopian to Addis Ababa and Egypt Air to Cairo were also cancelled.
In all, about 78 domestic flights are operated daily from Lagos to Abuja and from Abuja to other destinations, according to official schedule of the airlines.
With an average 100 passengers per flight, the airlines may have lost some 7,800 passengers yesterday, which amounts to the loss of N140 million in revenue at an average N18,000 per seat.
Furious travelers
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Aviation announced the incident which it said was not a plane crash and no casualties were recorded.
Furious stranded passengers who spoke to our correspondents in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Uyo and other destinations expressed sadness that the Saudi plane blocking the runway was not removed until 17 hours after the incident.
While Arik Air called for an emergency meeting with passengers stranded at the Abuja airport to announce the cancellations, Ethiopian airline distributed a notice to its passengers saying flights were suspended.
The travel chaos affected Senator Sola Adeyeye (Osun Central), who said: “What we are seeing right now is an epitome of a corruptocracy. A government for the corrupt, by the corrupt and for the corrupt.
“If there were no corruption even if a plane broke down and could not be removed in 16 hours, anybody who wants to take Abuja today will have Abuja easily. The cream of Nigeria is here and we have no means of escape.
“I came here 9am. I am supposed to be going to Ibadan. Why can’t we have a crane that can push a plane off the tarmac? This is an insult to all Nigerians and an insult to the great Azikiwe in whose name this airport is named.”
A stranded South African traveler, Mr. Gabour Petroczi, said he was supposed travel to Addis Ababa by Ethiopian Airlines only for the flight to be suspended.
Another passenger, Mr Babayo Saidu, was travelling to Dubai by Ethiopian. He said, “I came in from Kaduna. I expect that they should give us hotel voucher. My flight has been cancelled and I can’t go back to Kaduna today.”
There were rowdy scenes at the airport, as while some passenger sought reschedule of their flights for today, others asked for refund of the fares they paid.
Mr Odumu collected his refund, saying he did so to avoid any uncertainty. “I am not sure if the situation will improve or what will happen next,” he said.
Omolola Joseph, a passenger, said passengers ought to be compensated for the inconvenience.
Mr. Okeke said he was opting for a night bus as he would need to be in Abuja today for a proposal defence.
Sule Alhassan also wondered why the authorities could not remove the aircraft in good time.
In Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, air passengers travelling to Abuja were stranded for many hours. Both Arik and Aero Contractors airlines that ply the route cancelled their flights.
Many passengers complained over the long delay before the announcement of the cancellations.
Arik flight, scheduled to leave Uyo at 7.45am, did not announce the cancellation till about 1.30pm. For its part, Aero announced cancellation of its 12.45pm at 1pm.
While some angry passengers rescheduled for another day, others proceeded to the motor park to travel by road.
Airport reopened
At about 5.32pm, the Ministry of Aviation announced the reopening of the Abuja airport, more than 17 hours after the Saudi plane incident.
Spokesman for the minister, Mr. Joe Obi, said “the B747 Saudi Air cargo flight SVA 6814 that veered off the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja last night at about 22.12 hours local time has been successfully recovered to the apron and the airport reopened for normal flight operations.”
Obi quoted managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, as regretting the inconvenience the suspension of flights caused to travelers.
He said an advisory, known in aviation parlance as Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), has already been issued on the resumption of normal operations at the airport, and that the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB) has begun investigations.
NAMA spokesman Supo Atobatele, who also announced reopening of the airport, said the “available take off distance however is 2,500 metres on runway 04. This implies that it could take aircraft in the category of B737, Airbus A319 and light aircraft.”
He said already six flights had landed, including a British Airways B772 plane.