Abdulkareem Mojeed
Frustrated passengers of Dana Airline, on Monday, vandalised
the check-in counter facility belonging to the airline over repeated flight
delays and cancellation.
The passengers disrupted the airline's operations after long
hours of waiting at the Murtala Muhammed Airport wing 2 ( MMA2) in Lagos.
We gathered that the incident occurred at about 6 p.m. on
Monday, shortly after the airline announced the cancellation of two flights
scheduled for Port Harcourt and Owerri from Lagos by 12 p.m.
"Some of the passengers have been waiting since
yesterday after their flight was cancelled. They were promised that their
flight would take off today but after over three hours of delay again, the
flight was cancelled," an official at the airport who sought anonymity
since he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said.
Other sources at the airport who spoke with this medium said
some passengers had been stranded at the airport for over 24 hours after their
flights were delayed and eventually cancelled without prior notice.
This prompted the violent move by the passengers who were
seen disconnecting the computers used for flight check-in by the airline.
"The computers were disconnected and vandalised, while
some of the attendants were severely beaten by the passengers," an
attendant at the airport said.
As of Sunday, airport attendants said the passengers were
promised by the airline that their flight scheduled for 11 February would now
depart on 12 February by 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. due to technical issues from the
operating aircraft.
"Unfortunately, as at 1800hrs, Dana airline announced
flight cancellation on both routes with no proper address nor option for
refund. Angry passengers started their agitations and vandalised the airport
properties belonging to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited," an airport
official said.
Dana airline speaks
Meanwhile, in an earlier statement issued Monday by the
airline and posted on its official X page (formally Twitter), the management
apologised to passengers for the delay of flight schedules.
"We sincerely wish to apologise for the expected delay
on your flight today 12/ 02/ 24 due non-scheduled maintenance," the
airline said.
"We understand the negative impact this disruption
might have on your planned activities for the day and we are deeply
sorry."
It added that the safety of its customers and staff will
remain a top priority and that it is committed to flying passengers safely and
comfortably to their choice destinations.
We gathered that the aggrieved passengers were eventually
called to board at about 9.00 p.m, after the intervention of aviation security
agencies at the airport.