According to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the primary cause of flight disruptions and delays in Nigeria is the lack of capacity by Nigerian airlines.
Michael Achimugu, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at NCAA, said this at an event organised by the agency on Wednesday in Abuja.
The Nigerian aviation sector is currently experiencing a significant increase in passenger flight delays and cancellations. Achimugu emphasised that the flight disruption challenge is attributed to the insufficient aircraft available to Nigerian airline operators.
However, he mentioned that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had tackled the issue by implementing the recent signing of the Cape Town Convention (CTC) practice direction, which allows domestic airline operators to access aircraft on dry lease.
He also stated that there are ongoing plans to address flight disruptions by calibrating the country’s airports.
“In Nigeria, we have a capacity problem. We simply do not have enough aircraft to fly people around the country.
“The Honourable Minister has stated this. We will help ourselves by hiding the truth. However, there are solutions. The most important solution is what the minister has facilitated with the signing of the Cape Town Convention. Now, more planes can come into the country.
“Lack of capacity is the major reason for flight disruption. Once there is a disruption in the morning, any particular flight affects another route. Also, on the part of the government, some airports need calibration,” he said.
Keyamo recently announced that Nigeria’s rating had risen to 75.5% as the country is no longer blacklisted globally.