Over half of the domestic flights in Nigeria in first quarter of 2023 were delayed, an official report states, confirming the complaints of travellers about incessant flight delays in the country’s airports.
Of the total 18,288 domestic flights within the period, 10,128 were delayed about 55 per cent), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) stated in a report tagged “Executive Summary on International and Domestic Flight Operations.”
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In its report, the NCAA said the 11 domestic airlines operating in the country also had 284 flight cancellations within the period.
The report also stated that 2,791,591 passengers passed through the nation’s domestic airports in the first quarter of 2023, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
It indicates that, of the 2,791,591 passengers, 1,391,560 were inbound and 1,400,031 outbound.
Also, the summary indicates passenger traffic of 870,776 on international airlines operations in the first quarter of the year.
The breakdown shows that while inbound passenger traffic of 375,700 was recorded, outbound traffic was 495,076 on the international routes.
In the first quarter, 25 foreign airlines operated 3,073 flights on international routes, while 11 domestic airlines operated 18,288 flights on domestic routes.
Also, 1,193 complaints were received from passengers by the NCAA, on delayed flights on international routes, with 24 complaints of cancellations and six of air returns.
On domestic flights, 10,128 flights were delayed within the first three months, with 284 cancelled and 28 cases of air returns.
The report indicates that 499 flights were delayed on foreign flights in January, with Air Peace topping the list with 53, followed by Asky with 45, Qatar Airways with 41 and British Airways with 33, amongst others.
In February, delayed flights were 325, with AWA recording 30, Ethiopian Airlines 33, Kenya Airways 11; while in March, 369 flights were delayed, with Qatar Airways recording 32, United Airlines had 1 and Air Peace recorded 64.
There were seven cancelled flights in January, 13 in February and four in March.
A total number of 25 Air/ramp return flights were recorded in the first quarter of the year.
Missing baggage was 9,087, and the number of those found was 7,942 on international flights, while 31 were found on domestic flights.
During the period under review, NCAA received 27 complaints from international operations and 45 on domestic flights.
Nine cases were resolved on international flights, while 22 were resolved on domestic flights.