taken a toll on activities at the domestic
terminals of the Lagos airport, with
airline officials lamenting low patronage
in the past few days.
Some airline officials told our
correspondent in confidence on Monday,
that the passengers seemed to have
developed apathy towards air travel,
stressing that they might have become
scared of flying following recent
developments in the industry.
The officials confirmed that some
passengers had called in to cancel earlier
bookings, while most of the aircraft
taking off from both the Murtala
Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 and the
General Aviation Terminal to various
destinations in the country have had to
depart with fewer passengers on board
than usual.
Analysts say the development is a
setback to the operators because flying
with fewer passengers can make the
airlines run at a loss.
An official of one of the major carriers
told our correspondent that the airline
has had to reschedule some of its flights
in the past two weeks due to dwindling
patronage and in order not to run at a
total loss.
The official, who asked not to be named
because of the sensitive nature of the
subject, said, “Lately, activities have not
been going on as usual; we have noticed
a general reduction in patronage. At first,
we chalked it up to the fact that the
summer is over and people may be
travelling less at this period; but further
investigations have shown that some
customers appear a bit sceptical about
air travels for the time being.
“Perhaps, this is as a result of the
number of mishaps that have been
recorded in the Nigerian airspace in the
last few weeks. As a result of this, we
have had to adjust our flying times in a
few cases to ensure that we are able to
accommodate more passengers, while
running fewer schedules, this is in an
attempt to assist the management to
break even.”
On Thursday, October 3, 2013, an
Associated Airline plane crashed in Lagos
shortly after taking off, killing 15 out of
the 20 passengers on board.
Twenty-four hours after, a Kabo Airlines’
Boeing 747-400 plane carrying 512
pilgrims made an emergency landing at
the Sokoto airport with deflated tyres and
damaged the airport’s Instrument
Landing System.
On October 7, 2013, the Federal
Government suspended the operations of
Dana Airlines once again, citing the need
to carry out an operational audit on the
carrier.
On Sunday, October 13, an IRS Airlines’
Fokker 100 plane carrying 99 passengers
also made an emergency landing at the
Kaduna airport after developing hydraulic
problems mid air.
A passenger, Mr. Uche Igbokwe, told our
correspondent at the MMA2 terminal on
Monday, that he had come to see if he
could get a refund for a flight he had
earlier booked.
He said, “I am a businessman who lives
in Lagos, but I shuttle between Abuja and
Lagos two or three times every month. I
actually booked a ticket for a flight to
Abuja towards the end of last month to
fly on Wednesday, but the air crashes
and near crashes witnessed in recent
times have become worrisome to me.
“My family advised me to use the road
transport option for the time being, until
things are a bit settled in the industry,
and I seem to agree with them. So, I have
come to see if I can reclaim at least some
of my money. I know the road option is
some distance, but I will have to manage
until things improve in the aviation
sector.”
An aide to a principal officer of the
National Assembly, who pleaded not to
be named, said he had stopped travelling
by air to any destination in the country,
but was now embarking on his journeys
by road because of the “unsafe state of
aviation” in the country.
Corroborating this, the Chief Executive
Officer, Gadeshire Travels and Tours, Mr.
Olugbenga Adebayo, said there had been
reduced bookings for local flights by
passengers.
He said, “Well, we have noticed that there
is this phobia, which our customers did
not use to exhibit before. It is not really
that most of them do not want to fly
again, but they are now being very
choosy about the kind of flight they want
to get on.
“If they do not see big airline carriers,
they will refuse to fly and will rather take
the road option. And you know that
currently, we have limited carriers with
big capacities in the country.
“We believe it may be as a result of all
the issues we have been having in the
Nigerian airspace lately, and this seems
to be the little challenge that we are
facing in the local aviation sector for
now, but it is not affecting international
travels.
http://www.punchng.com/business/
business-economy/aviation-crises-
nigerians-shun-domestic-air-trave
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