Murtala Airport Lagos
The frequency of delayed flights in Nigeria’s air travel sector reached a worrisome height, recording 19,323 incidents in the first half of this year, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has disclosed.
According to data released yesterday in Lagos by the regulator, domestic airlines posted 16,880 delays while their foreign counterparts accounted for 2,443 issues during the period under review.
NCCA’s Director-General, Captain Muktar Usman, at a stakeholders’ meeting in the nation’s economic headquarters, admitted that though the figures were alarming, but he, however, noted that “no delay or outright cancellation is too much when it concerns safety of lives.”
A further breakdown shows that an average of three out of four flights were delayed in 2017, indicating that of the 48,319 tally by eight airlines, 30,214 were late with 872 cancelled.
The factsheet revealed that Aero Contractors had 66.5 per cent delay rate, Arik Air (61.8 per cent), Azman Air (66.4 per cent), Dana Air (64.2 per cent) and Med-View Airlines Plc. (71 per cent).
