Faulty MMIA baggage conveyor gets foreign airlines’ passengers stranded
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Passengers flying in and out of Nigeria were stranded in Lagos, Cairo, Doha, London, and other locations on Wednesday and Thursday as baggage belt failures at the new terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos forced airlines to delay or cancel flights.
The chaos lingered as officials of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAA) and foreign airlines tackled the belt failures and the resulting congestion.
The chaos arose from the sudden relocation of foreign airlines from the international terminal of the (local) Lagos Airport to an adjoining new terminal opened last March.
The new terminal built with loans from China had remained under-utilised until Wednesday when FAAN ordered over a dozen international airlines to relocate from the MMIA terminal.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo had directed airlines to relocate to the new terminal on October 1 but FAAN forcefully shifted them on September 6.
The sudden relocation came the same day fire razed part of the baggage hall of the MMIA, compelling FAAN to evacuate passengers and personnel from the facility.
Later on Wednesday afternoon, passengers and airport workers were asked to return to the terminal.
At about 8pm, FAAN officials ordered airlines to relocate to the new terminal but airline officials reportedly ignored the order, which forced FAAN to turn off the check-in system.
The airlines later relocated at about 9pm to continue their check-in, but congestion, frequent baggage belt failures, logistics challenges, and other problems caused chaos.
International airlines were forced to delay operations for more than four hours, leading to passengers missing connecting flights.
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Nigeria on $812m tops foreign airlines’ global debtor list
FAAN says it can’t operate airports 24/7 for now
Restricted operations cost local airlines N4b yearly
__________________________________________________________________
Foreign airlines affected
British Airways, AirFrance, KLM, Qatar Airways, and Egypt Air flights scheduled to depart Lagos between 10pm and 11pm on Wednesday did not take off until around 4am on Thursday, per reporting by The PUNCH.
Kenya Airways cancelled flights altogether after the crew exceeded their rest period, and the passengers were lodged in a Lagos hotel.
Airline officials said many of their passengers missed their connections in London, Cairo, Doha, Amsterdam, and Paris.
FAAN Media Director Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua explained the airport fire combined with power supply challenges necessitated the sudden relocation of the foreign carriers.
“We are doing our best to make it better. Issues like this will come with some challenges and hitches. Things are now as good as good as they should be and we hope it will be better. The MD and Directors were there up till this evening,” he said.
Abuja urged to tackle hiccups comprehensively
A top official of a European carrier urged the federal government to address the matter holistically.
“The conveyor belts at the new terminal failed to work from last night (Wednesday). After the fire incident at the old terminal, which was put out, the smoke was heavy and the terminal had to be evacuated,” he recounted.
“After the smoke had cleared out, light was turned on and everything came back to normal. I left the airport at about 5pm. Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, KLM and United Airlines were already checking-in at that time.
“At about 8pm, however, FAAN officials came and asked everybody to leave the terminal and proceed to the new terminal to complete their check-in process.
“Of course, the airlines resisted because they were still checking in their passengers. FAAN switched off the power at the check-in desks, so we were forcefully moved.
“So, all the airlines came to the new terminal but I think the baggage belts were not constructed to handle a lot of bags. The baggage belts kept breaking down from time to time, so the bags started piling up.
“Kenya Airways had to cancel their flight, Egypt Air had a four-hour delay, and they had over 100 passengers with connections; so they all missed their flight connections at Cairo and had to be put in hotels.
“British Airways, KLM and others left at about 4am, so all the flights from last night were delayed because of the baggage situation.
“The main issues [include] space constraint. The terminal does not have the capacity to accommodate the number of passengers that they’re forcing into that space, so I don’t know why they are insisting we have to move there.
“They’re saying it’s a ministerial mandate, the Minister has said that we must move. The baggage breaks down frequently.
“Even though the Minister said the deadline is October 1, FAAN said they had decided to move by Sept 10. But why they are moving on September 6 is what we don’t know. United Airlines and Delta left around 3am.”
An official of another European airline said: “I was on standing from 7pm on Wednesday till 5.30am on Thursday. It was a miserable situation. The chaos continued this evening on Thursday.
“FAAN MD and the Directors were also around to see the situation, it is sad.”
FAAN cites Keyamo’s directive
“The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has redirected processing of passengers through the New International Terminal, effective immediately,” FAAN reiterated in a statement.
“The expedited relocation to the New International Terminal at MMIA was deemed necessary due to the unfortunate fire incident that occurred at International Terminal 1 yesterday.
“The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, during his maiden visit to Lagos airport had directed FAAN to relocate airlines to the New International Terminal for the shutdown of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 1 by 1st October 2023 with a view to improving passenger experience and for a total overhaul of the terminal.
“We intend to make this movement as seamless as possible but appeal to all travellers to please be at the airport early enough to complete their check-in formalities on time in order not to miss their flight.”
