Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace has reacted to a viral video showing the overcrowding of passengers boarding flight P47123 from Abuja to Lagos.
A trending video obtained by DAILY GIST captured the moment passengers were struggling to board an Air Peace aircraft.
Passengers were seen pushing themselves in a bid to board the plane with the airline staff obviously overwhelmed.
However, Air peace in a statement on Saturday said, the incident whichever happened on December 20, 2024 was due to flight delay caused by poor harmattan-induced haze and fog.
The airline’s Head, Corporate Communications, Dr. Ejike Ndiulo stated that on the day in question, there were flight delays because of poor weather conditions which significantly limited visibility but that to ensure passengers continued their journeys with minimum disruptions, Air Peace deployed three aircraft to Abuja to evacuate all the passengers.
He said that while processing them for their flights at the boarding gate, passengers overwhelmed officials of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and boarding officers and rushed to the airside. Duty managers and ramp officials then had to mount barricades in front of the stairs to differentiate passengers on flights.
The statement partly reads: “On the day in question, there were flight delays because of poor weather conditions, specifically harmattan-induced haze and fog, which is common at this time of the year, and which significantly limits visibility and impacts flight operations nationwide.
To ensure that passengers continued their journeys with minimum disruptions, Air Peace deployed three aircraft to Abuja to evacuate all the passengers.
“While we empathize with our loyal customer, we condemn in very strong terms the misinformation, insults and deliberate falsehood disseminated in the video post.
Such representations are not reflective of our values or operations. There is no truth in the allegation, and we urge the public to disregard the report in all its entirety.
“We appreciate your understanding and patience during this period and sincerely regret any inconvenience these delays may have caused you. The safety of our passengers and crew is our utmost priority,” he said.
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