Stakeholders Identify Reasons Behind Flight Delays, Cancellations as Airlines Suffer N3 Billion Loss

• Stakeholders have finally identified the major culprit in the increasing number of flight disruptions on domestic routes
• These incidences have spiked in recent years, questioning FAAN's efforts to resolve them
• Airlines in Nigeria lose over N3 billion annually to the resulting damages from bird strikes

Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

Recent findings have shown that the increase in flight disruptions across domestic routes results from several bird strikes.

These strikes have impeded smooth flight operations for the airlines, causing up to N3 billion loss annually.

Bird strikes occur when birds collide with an airborne aircraft, mostly during take-off or landing.

The birds are often sucked into the engines, causing significant obstruction and issues that have to be addressed before the aircraft can take-off again.

Bird strikes cause huge damage to aircraft

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Sources within the Aviation space say that bird strikes happen because birds and aircraft share the same airspace, especially as airports are often located near large grasslands or water bodies that also attract birds.

Nigerian airlines spend an estimated N3 billion annually to fix and replace engines damaged by bird strikes. In addition to this, NCAA's latest directive mandates airlines to take care of passengers during these disruptions.

Recall that Air Peace suffered three bird strikes within 48 hours recently and had to ground the affected aircraft, leading to delays and cancelled flights.

Air Peace, being the largest airline operator in Nigeria, bore the most brunt with about 43 bird strikes in 2024, three times more than the 2021 record of 14 bird strikes, THIS DAY reports.

Airlines lose $60 billion to bird strikes

Data from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) records show that Nigerian and foreign airlines recorded more than 127 bird strikes in 21 months from 2021 to 2022 across the 26 airports in Nigeria.

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Out of 93 bird strikes recorded in 2022, 58 occurred at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos state.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) raised the issue with the authorities, reporting that up to $60 million had been spent on repairing damages caused by the incidents over a 21-month period.

FAAN to handle bird strikes

At an event organized by the Search and Rescue Mission of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Head Bird/Wildlife Hazard Control, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Amos Akpan, the Managing Director, Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, stated that if the annual records of bird strikes are to be used to adjudge FAAN, then the airport manager was not doing enough.

Akpan recommended that FAAN borrow a leaf from airports where they adopt multifaceted approaches, ranging from infrared to artificial electric noise, to curb the incidents.

He also advocated insurance coverage for the airlines to protect themselves from the huge financial losses that come with airstrikes and suggested that FAAN could share the insurance cost as the airport manager.

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3000 passengers file complaint over flight disruption

In related news, almost 3,000 passengers have filed complaints against domestic and international airlines over maltreatment within one year.

More than 70% of these complaints are against domestic airlines, and some passengers have taken legal action.

The issues of flight cancellations and delays have been recurring in recent years, especially during the Yuletide season.

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng