Christmas: Air travellers lament delays, cancellations of flights

There are fears that the issue of flight delays and cancellations bedevilling the aviation sector might not be over soon.

Delays are still being experienced in the country’s aviation sector despite the high cost of flight tickets, the security challenges in the country as well as increased economic activities have boosted passengers’ turnout at most airports in the country, even as new airlines are entering the sector and others opening more routes.

The Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Engr. Mathew Pwajok, recently declared that insecurity, expansion in the economy, and the upsurge in political activities in the country account for the increase in demand for air travel.

It was gathered that the departure halls at major airports are now constantly filled with passengers arriving or preparing for departure ahead of the yuletide period.

But ahead of the festive season, the airlines said they anticipate increased passenger movement as more people are expected to arrive into the country while more domestic passengers would be recorded across major routes.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that most flights from December 20 to 23 are either fully booked or have only a few seats left, while the fares have also gone up.

Lagos-Enugu flight on Air Peace is sold for N100,000 for one way as against the N75,000 being minimum price.

The Ibom Air flight to Port Harcourt costs N88,000 for Friday, December 23, as of the time of filing this report, while an Owerri flight ticket now costs more than N90,000 on most of the airlines.

Amidst the rush in the yuletide booking by passengers, there are fears of flight disruption occasioned by the declining airport infrastructure, and the harmattan haze, among other factors.

Already, passengers across the airports are complaining about missing their flights or experiencing delays.

A passenger, Engr Epkema, travelling to Uyo, said, “I missed my flight because of the hold-up on my way to the airport, especially the few kilometres to the tollgate and between the tollgate and the terminal building area.

“I spent over 20 minutes between the tollgates coming to the terminal building. I had to alight from the vehicle to trek because it was faster trekking, but I wasn’t early enough, so I missed my flight.

“However, I’m happy because the flight left as scheduled. So it was my fault I missed the flight. As per the pressure, you can see a large crowd.

“Although at Ibom Air counter, there was no delay, but you can see the pressure at the other airlines’ counters. It is chaotic there with the crowd. I guess it is because of the season.”

Another passenger, Yasir Abubakar, also complained about having to spend too much time on the queue at the terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

“You will have to be here on time because the airport is really busy. This is the holiday season and a lot of people are traveling, so I can understand the pressure. I have a long queue in front of me now. But it’s moving gradually. It’s quite stressful.”

An Abuja-Uyo bound passenger, Miss Joy, lamented that her flight was shifted by Air Peace for one hour.

“Air Peace shifted my flight to Uyo by an hour and there was no message until I got to the airport to manage my flight. Imagine if I had a scheduled meeting, I would have missed it.”