Air Peace Cancelled Abuja-Maiduguri flight; passengers protest as airline blames aviation fuel

• Unavailability, sunset restriction

Passengers of Air Peace scheduled Abuja-Maiduguri flight, which was disrupted weekend staged a protest demanding fair treatment.

Meanwhile, Air Peace reforms suffocating ordinary Nigerians says its Abuja-Maiduguri flight was disrupted due to the unavailability of aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, and a restriction on flight operations at the Maiduguri airport beyond sunset.

The airline announced in a statement on Saturday that following reports and footage circulating on social media showing passengers expressing concerns over the disruption. Air Peace said the initial delays to its Abuja operations were caused by the unavailability of Jet A1, which affected the airline and other carriers operating from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

“Upon the availability of fuel, our affected flights commenced operations accordingly,” the airline said.

“However, our Abuja-Maiduguri service could not subsequently operate as planned because the tower in Maiduguri who had given extension for our flight to come in, later came back as at the time of our calling for Boarding, to state that the airport had become FR and would no longer fly beyond sunset.”

Air Peace said passengers were informed of the delays and provided with refreshments throughout the disruption.

“Following the cancellation, affected Maiduguri passengers were also provided with hotel accommodation, with arrangements made to operate the flight the following day,” the statement added.

The airline apologised to the affected passengers for the inconvenience and said the safety and wellbeing of its passengers remain its priority.

On September 10, Chris Najomo, the director-general of the NCAA, issued stern warnings to airlines over the spate of flight delays, crew shortages and other consumer related infractions, urging them to align flight schedules with available aircraft and crew.