Unions distrupt operations of foreign airlines in Lagos

As the strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress( NLC), Trade Union Congress( TUC), and civil society groups to protest the removal of fuel subsidy entered the second day, domestic and foreign airilines  have continued to record  losses due to the disruption of their operations. No domestic carrier operated flight either into or out of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The absence of domestic flights into the Lagos airport is due to intensified mobilization by  Labour unions in the aviation sector for compliance with the strike.They disrupted the operations of some foreign airlines at the international wing of the Lagos Airport, which only recorded in bound flights, but were not allowed to carry out out bound flights.
Amid tight security around the Airport Road , which resulted in the locking of the entrance into the new and old terminals of the  Airport, scores of heavily armed policemen and officers of the Nigeria Army and Nigeria Air Force drove in patrol vehicles   around the airport.
Union members of the NLC, TUC, and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria ( ATSSSAN) ,National Union of Air Transport Employees( NUATE), and the Ntional Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers( NAAPE), mounted surveillance blocks around major roads leading to the airport to ensure that airline officials do not sneak into the airport to work.

Among the foreign carriers, which operations were distrupted by the action of aviation unions include : Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Kenya Airways, Arik Air, and others, which were ready to operate out bound flights. Some passengers who were contacted by some foreign carriers to turn up at the international wing , however remained stranded at the terminal complex, as they had to wait for hours  without any notice on when the out bound flights will be operated.

Apart from the airlines that recorded losses, offices of aviation agencies including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency ( NAMA), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority( NCAA), remained under lock and key, as security personnel mounted surveillance over their buildings.

Courtesy The Nation