Air passengers stranded in Lagos as aviation workers strike grounds int’l fights

Many international flights were on Monday grounded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos as workers of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc commenced an indefinite strike over salary increment.

Most of the foreign carriers operating into Nigeria are clients of NAHCO.

One of the top foreign airlines affected by the strike was Qatar Airways which could not operate its early morning Lagos-Doha flight.

The Middle East carrier which flew into the country early in the morning was forced to fly back to Doha with no passengers due to the nonavailability of NAHCO workers whose main job involves loading and checking in of passengers’ luggage.

As at the time of filing this report all the airlines being handled by NAHCO have been left in confusion just as their passengers.

Apart from Qatar Airways, NAHCO handles check-in, boarding and ramp services for several other international airlines such as Air France/KLM, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Turkish Air.

An affected passenger and aviation expert, Alex Nuba, said that NAHCO staff in the early hours of Monday walked out of the international airport, saying they were on strike and would not handle any passenger.

 

“Even the Qatar flight I’m traveling with this morning landed and has returned to Doha as there’s no one to handle them,” Nwuba said.

He said passengers are frustrated as they have been kept outside to avoid a crisis and no information, announcement or email was sent to passengers.

The National Union of Air Transport Employees [NUATE] and the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) had earlier put the workers on notice of the strike following what they called the uncooperative attitude of the NAHCO management towards resolving the welfare issues raised by the workers through the unions.

In the circular issued by the unions and signed by the general secretary of NUATE, Comrade Ocheme Aba and his ATSSSAN counterpart, Comrade Francis Akinjole, the workers were directed to withdraw their services nationwide by embarking on an indefibe strike until the issues are resolved.