No fewer than 100 passengers scheduled to fly from Abuja to Owerri were left stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, earlier today.
The incident, which saw irate passengers destroy United Nigeria Airlines’ laptops, assault its staff and injure a Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, AVSEC officer, happened after the airline’s aircraft suffered a bird strike, leading to the disruption of their flight.
Spokesperson for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Mr Mike Achimugu, who confirmed the incident, said the airline did not provide timely information to the passengers, leading to the chaos.
Achimugu, however, said the passengers had been rescheduled for their Owerri-bound travel for 10am tomorrow and would receive a 15 per cent discount on their next flight as compensation for the lack of timely and proper communication.
He stated on X, formerly Twitter: “To avert further disaster at the domestic wing of the Abuja airport, my team and I needed to rush down to the terminal where I addressed the over one hundred passengers scheduled to fly Abuja-Owerri via United Nigeria Airline.
“On receipt of reports about the chaos, we investigated and confirmed that the aircraft had experienced a bird strike, leading to a cancellation of the flight.
“Passengers became irate, and, some of them, violent. One of them destroyed laptops belonging to the airline, assaulted their staff, and injured a FAAN AVSEC personnel.
The fact: The airline did not provide timely information to the passengers. I had to address the passengers and help them understand why they could not fly today, and the possible remedies.
“For the lack of timely and proper communication, the airline has agreed to give the passengers 15 per cent compensation on their next flight while rescheduling their Owerri-bound travel to 10am tomorrow.
“We have instructed that an email to that effect be sent to the passengers latest, 4pm today.
“While taking questions from the obviously aggravated but now calm passengers, we did not deny the fault of the airline, even though the disruption was due to force majeure. Having successfully handled this situation and restoring order at the terminal, we will monitor United Nigeria’s compliance with the regulations until their customers have safely been brought to their destination.”
Meanwhile, United Nigeria Airlines, in a statement, pleaded with passengers over the disruption, saying: “United Nigeria Airlines wishes to inform our valued passengers and the travelling public that, due to a bird strike on one of our operating aircraft, some flights across our network will not operate as scheduled.
“As a result, and in strict adherence to our safety standards, the affected aircraft has been withdrawn from service for comprehensive inspection before returning it to service.”
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