DOMESTIC FLIGHTS ACROSS NIGERIA ON STANDSTILL DUE TO THE NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS ONGOING STRIKE
03-05-24
By Sadiq Aminu Domestic flights across Nigeria have come to a complete standstill due to the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, ongoing strike.
At the local terminal of the Lagos airport, both entry and exit gates are padlocked, leaving passengers who arrived as early as 6 a.m. stranded outside the terminal.
A similar scenario unfolded at the privately managed Terminal Two, where unions blocked the gates, preventing entry with canopies mounted by the gate, singing solidarity songs and playing loud music from two speakers.
Security officials are present to maintain order, while aviation workers and a few passengers who had to return home are among those in the vicinity.
The headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), along with the annexes of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), are also locked. Some staff, hoping to see if the strike would proceed, had to return home.
Union leaders have instructed their members to remain on duty for international flights already en route to Nigeria until 0000 hours on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
In a statement by the unions in the industry, “Being not oblivious of the fact that many international flights to Nigeria are already airborne, the strike action will commence at international terminals on Tuesday 4th of June, 2024″.
Acting on directives from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), union leaders are actively enforcing the withdrawal of aviation services.
Airline operators have begun notifying passengers via email and social media about the suspension of flight operations due to the NLC strike.
They have advised passengers to stay updated through their platforms for information on when operations might resume.
Vehicular traffic around Lagos airport is light.l