Photos: Angry Arik Air passengers block Abuja airport runway

Angry passengers yesterday evening Thursday
September 26th blocked the runway of the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja,
preventing planes from taking-off or landing.
The passengers, who disembarked from an
Arik Air flight, blocked the Abuja runway
because the flight they took from Abuja to
Calabar was not allowed to land in Calabar
around 5.30pm for safety reasons - the
runway lightening was poor, forcing the pilot
to return the passengers to Abuja.
The passengers now felt the best way to
express their anger was to prevent other
planes from taking off or landing at the Abuja
airport. Continue...
Arik Air spokesperson, Mr. Adebanji Ola, said
that it was not the airline's fault that the
Calabar airport was closed by the time the
flight from Abuja got there.
He said,
“The flight was delayed because there
was Very Important Personality
movement and there was also some
weather issues, it is not the fault of the
airline that the plane could not land
there. We are amazed that despite the
security at the Abuja airport, passengers
were still able to hijack the aircraft and
hold other planes to ransom, that should
not be the case.”