In October and November 2016, Arik Air, according to a summary complaints list received from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), had 307 delays out of 438 international flights, meaning 70 percent of the airline’s flights were delayed.
The troubled Nigerian airline, Arik Air, has once again topped the list of airlines in flight delays, while British Airways leads in missing luggage among local and international airlines operating in Nigeria.
In October and November 2016, Arik Air, according to a summary complaints list received from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), had 307 delays out of 438 international flights, meaning 70 percent of the airline’s flights were delayed.
The airline also had 190 cases of missing and/or delayed luggage arrival in the period under review and the highest number of complaints of discourtesy.
Out of the 438 flights operated by the airline, it ferried a total number of 16,335 inbound passengers while it had 16,393 outbound passengers within the period.
Domestically, Arik Air also led the table with 1,660 flights and recorded 1,020 delays. The airline cancelled 45 flights, made two air returns and airlifted 209,288 passengers in October 2016.
Air Peace came second with 898 flights, 489 delays and airlifted 173,758 passengers.
Azman Air operated 343 flights, had 272 delays and carried 53,662 passengers, while Dana Air operated 578 flights and recorded 318 delays. Dana, within that period, airlifted 108,329 passengers.
Med-View Airline operated 307 flights, had 204 delays and airlifted 62,952 passengers while Overland operated 153 flights and recorded 97 delays and carried 8,191 passengers. FirstNation Airways operated 162 flights, had 35 delays and airlifted 29,872 passengers.
In all, in the month of October, there were 4,101 flights, 2,435 delays, 64 cancellations, two air returns, four cases of missing/delayed luggage, 311,431 outbound passengers, and 326,234 inbound passengers.
For domestic airlines, all the carriers, with the exception of Aero Contractors, completed 3,903 flights, recording 2,911 delays, 63 cancellations and carried 738,711 passengers in November.
On the international scene, 26 foreign carriers operated into Nigeria in the month of October with a total number of flights operated at 1,153.
Out of the 1,153 flights, international carriers recorded 502 delays, six cancellations, 270 cases of missing luggage, 1,874 luggage articles found, 11 cases of pilferage and discourtesy. Altogether, there were 130,904 inbound passengers and 137,215 outbound passengers.
Topping the list of flight delays and missing luggage cases among the international carriers was the British mega carrier, British Airways.
The NCAA in its report recorded a total of 81 cases of missing luggage with a total of 40 flight delays within two months for British Airways. The figure represents 49.3 percent of its total flights within the month.
The British carrier had a total number of 23,029 inbound passengers between October and November 2016, while outbound statistics stood at 22,696.
