Posted by AFP on
Tens of local and international flights in and out of Nigeria were either delayed or cancelled Friday following the intensity of harmattan dust which descended on several parts of the country, aviation officials said.
LAGOS, Jan 7 (AFP) - Tens of local and international flights in and out of Nigeria were either delayed or cancelled Friday following the intensity of harmattan dust which descended on several parts of the country, aviation officials said.
No flight landed at Lagos' local and international airports as at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) and only one local flight took off from the local airport before noon, they said.
An official of one of the airlines, Solomon Ajibade, told a local television here that the harmattan haze is affecting his company's business.
The disruption of flights affects Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Calabar airports.
An Abuja-based journalist told AFP that he has suspended his plan to travel Friday to Lagos due to inavailability of flights.
Hundreds of passengers who intended to travel either out of Lagos or out of the country were forced to return home Friday after their flights were cancelled, one of them said.
"I will try my luck tomorrow (Saturday) hoping that the situation will improve," said a disappointed Ghana-bound intending passenger as he made to return home from the airport after her flight was cancelled.
Nigeria lacks modern and adequate navigational aids and aviation authorities urge flight operators not to defy bad weather.