Weather: Passengers stranded as airlines cancel, divert

Dozens of flights were on Saturday diverted across the country due to bad weather, forcing passengers to be stranded. The diversion affected most Northern states including Kano, Yola, Maiduguri, Ilorin, among others. Daily Trust on Sunday reports many passengers have been experiencing delays and cancellations from the beginning of last week over inclement weather. Yesterday, Air […]

Dozens of flights were on Saturday diverted across the country due to bad weather, forcing passengers to be stranded.

The diversion affected most Northern states including Kano, Yola, Maiduguri, Ilorin, among others.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports many passengers have been experiencing delays and cancellations from the beginning of last week over inclement weather.

Yesterday, Air Peace diverted its early morning Lagos-Kano flight to Abuja on account of the weather. No fewer than 160 passengers were on board the flight as the Airbus aircraft diverted to Abuja.

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Also, Lagos-Ilorin flights on Air Peace and Green Africa were delayed for hours at the Murtala Muhammed Airport domestic Wing.

When our correspondent visited MMIA, it was announced that Air Peace flight to Ilorin has been further delayed for another one hour due to bad weather at the destination airport.

It was learnt that some passengers going to Ilorin were routed through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja with the hope of connecting Ilorin International Airport from there.

A relative of one of the passengers told Daily Trust on Sunday that he had been waiting at the Ilorin Airport since 7am to pick up his brother but the flight had not landed as of yesterday’s afternoon.

Also, Air Peace’s Lagos-Kano flight had to drop the passengers in Abuja when the aircraft could not proceed to Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.

“Safety is our priority and when it has to do with weather like that, it is a force majeure; we have to reschedule our flights until the weather is clear and it is safe to land,” said Executive Director of Max, Barr. Shehu Wada, while speaking on phone with Daily Trust on Sunday.

Another airline operator who confirmed the situation said, “Early morning flights can leave Kano or Kaduna but those coming in cannot. That is how we have been managing the situation.

“The impact is very huge on our operation but there is nothing we can do when it comes to the issue of weather and passengers also understand the situation.”

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) had predicted dust haze in most parts of the North which would reduce visibility in the sky and subsequently hamper safe flight operations while cautioning airlines to be acquainted with the weather condition at the designated aerodromes before proceeding on the flight.