Depleted fleet of local airlines key reason for flight delays, cancellations—NCAA
…As airlines shift blames to poor airport infrastructure, weather
Contrary to clumsy excuses habitually given by domestic airlines during incidents of flight delays and outright cancellations, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has clearly traced the scourge the depleted fleet of some of the operating airlines.
Whereas NCAA noted that the multiple delays are worst during the festive period, as several of the aircraft went on routine maintenance, many air passengers had continued to query the rationale in planning aircraft maintenance period during yuletide when traffic is high.
However, domestic airlines brushed aside the claims of NCAA and directly traced the delays to issues of poor infrastructure at most of the airports and bad weather.
They said frequent disruptions has nothing to do with fleet capacity, but inability of the relevant MDAs to fix critical facilities that aid seamless flight operations at Nigerian airports’.
For instance, data from the Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) of the NCAA estimated that no fewer than 3,476 local flights were delayed by eight airlines in month of November alone.
Within the period under review, about eight flights were cancelled, four made air return, 56 luggage were either missing or delayed out of about one million passengers that traveled both inbound and outbound direction.
On international operations at Nigerian airports, the CPD record showed that within the same period in November, 26 international flight operators recorded 427 delays, three air returns, 2,209 delayed or missing luggage, and three flight cancellations on the foreign routes.
