Posted by By Ndubuisi Francis on
New Minister of Aviation, Dr. Babalola Borishade yesterday apologised to hundreds of stranded passengers across the country who were forced to pass through harrowing times following Wednesday's incident at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos in which a chartered foreign registered cargo aircraft overshot the runway leading to the closure of the only functional runway.
Airport Incident: Minister Apologises to Stranded Passengers
, 07.15.2005
New Minister of Aviation, Dr. Babalola Borishade yesterday apologised to hundreds of stranded passengers across the country who were forced to pass through harrowing times following Wednesday's incident at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos in which a chartered foreign registered cargo aircraft overshot the runway leading to the closure of the only functional runway.
The minister in what appeared to be his first official assignment after being sworn-in on Wednesday said in Lagos yesterday that it was embarrassing seeing scores of stranded passengers at the airports.
Borishade who promised to "get to the bottom of it" regretted that "a little incident like this could cause a lot of international disaffection. He assured that such incidents would not be allowed to continue, and that "we will not allow ourselves to be messed around by pilots".
The minister made a case for the strengthening of "our recovery system, adding that "our back -up system must be effective so that situations like this will be handled with ease. The crowd at the airport is embarrassing."
The minister who stated that the Wednesday incident in Lagos posed a challenge assured that "solutions are on the way and will be implemented as soon as possible."
He pointed out the urgency of having another runway at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The minister who met with the heads of the three parsatatals at the airport later inspected the on-going renovation work at the Presidential wing before departure.
As soon as he concluded his inspection and was about to proceed to board an Air Force plane marked NAF 031 aircraft back to Abuja, his predecessor, Mallam Isa Yuguda was driven into the lounge at about 2.26p.m.
Decked in a dark suit, Yuguda who quickly disembarked from a black Mecedes Benz jeep embraced Borishade before the two of them proceeded to board the aircraft to Abuja.
However, for a better part of yesterday, the nation's aviation industry almost practically came to a standstill as hundreds of air travellers remained stranded at various airports across the country. Some foreign airlines which brought in passengers into Lagos and could not land because of the incident had to divert to neighbouring countries or some other airports in the north.
A British Airways flight from Heathrow, London which came Wednesday evening had to divert to Accra while the one that was to land in Lagos yesterday morning instead landed in Abuja.
A South African Airways aircraft billed for Lagos also landed in Accra while Egypt Air coming from Saudi Arabia diverted to Kano Wednesday night.