Passengers destroy airport equipment over cancelled flight

Some passengers destroyed infrastructure at the terminal of Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MM2), in Lagos state, on Monday, after Dana Air cancelled their flight.

Mira Mehta, co-founder of Tomato Jos, in a post via her X handle, said the flight cancellation led to passengers attacking airport workers and destroying equipment.

“Apparently some passengers had a flight canceled after a whole day of waiting and they beat up the airport staff & started smashing computers? Military came“to quell the situation” & we can’t go into the arrivals hall to get our bags?” Mehta said.

Also, a video on X which captured the moment showed how angry passengers destroyed the ticketing unit of some airlines.

An airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the brawl.

She also said the cancelled flight was initially rescheduled from February 11 to February 12.

“Airline passengers started destroying things in the terminal because of canceled flights. Rescheduled from yesterday (Sunday) to today (Monday) and finally canceled after about six hours.”

In a statement on February 12, Dana Air said the delay was for the passengers’ safety.

“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.

“The safety of our customers and staff will remain a top priority for us and we are committed to flying you safely and comfortably always to your choice destinations.”

On his part, Kingsley Ezenwa, Dana Air’s spokesperson said the airline never had the intention to cause any form of discomfort to passengers.

Ezenwa said passengers who were not able to join the scheduled flight after the incident would be compensated.

The fracas on Monday comes amid the federal government’s plan to sanction airlines that delay or cancel flights.

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, on January 31, 2024, threatened to name and shame airlines that delayed or cancelled flights from last week.

The ministry is yet to start publishing names.