March 01, (THEWILL) – The circumstances surrounding the February 25 Presidential, Parliamentary elections, are rubbing off on the operations of both domestic and international flight operations, due to low passenger traffic, particularly on domestic routes.
Seventy two hours after the Presidential and National Assembly elections, flight activities are partially grounded due to low patronage.
THEWILL gathered that airline operators in the country have been recording losses since Sunday, as there has been poor passenger turn-out.
The operators confirmed that most of the flights operated these last three days have not been full. The situation is further exacerbated by poor weather conditions, which resulted in multiple delays and cancellations in some cases.
On Monday, 28th February, 2023, only the counter of Ibom Air at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, were seen carrying out skeletal services with very few passengers to fly with.
An Air worker, Jim Omeonu, at the domestic terminal, confirmed that the situation has remained the same since Sunday, 27th February, 2023, stressing, “That is the situation we found ourselves. Activities have remained very low in this MMA2. You can see there is no flight and we are just here watching.”
At General Aviation Terminal (GAT), Lagos airport, a ticketing officer, who simply identified himself as Daniel, confirmed that flight has been very low.
According to him, the low turnout is due to fear of uncertainties which some people have, as regards tensions that arose from the election.
He, however, said that flight operations are returning gradually, noting that Air Peace flight just returned partially filled from Abuja, at about 10:00 am Tuesday morning.
“For today, I assure you that we have Air Peace Lagos-Abuja 6:30am flight and even 4:00pm. We also have Abuja – Lagos 7:00am, 2:00pm and so on. Arik had Lagos – Abuja 8:55am and 7:30am. So you can see services are returning gradually”, Daniel said.
“United Nigeria Airlines has done Lagos – PH by 7:00am and I am sure they will do the 4:30 flight as well and even PH – Abuja by 4.15pm today”.
Also, due to the low passenger turn-up, eateries, banks, pharmacies, shops and other vendors around the airports are also recording minimal sales and patronage.
The story is not different at the cargo areas of the airport, where a few staffers could be seen resuming work in the various government offices.
Similarly, vehicular traffic within the airport environment has been low.
In his reaction, an aviation analyst, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said the situation has crippled commercial activities across the country.
He said many businesses are doing skeletal operations because of the tension in the land, saying this does not happen in advanced countries.
He said, “So, we need to move our elections away from this present manual system. In advanced countries, people go about their normal business when there are elections.
“Today, airlines are not working, companies are not open and we are losing more money as a country.
“We also need to improve security. Nigerians are scared of post-election riots. This is affecting the economy of the country. If you can’t go out and make money, it has a multiplier effect, it affects the economy of the country. Airlines cannot deploy their aircraft because there are no passengers to carry.”
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
