Photos: Angry Arik Air passengers block Abuja airport runway

Angry passengers yesterday evening Thursday
September 26th blocked the runway of the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja,
preventing planes from taking-off or landing.
The passengers, who disembarked from an Arik
Air flight, blocked the Abuja runway because
the flight they took from Abuja to Calabar was
not allowed to land in Calabar around 5.30pm
for safety reasons - the runway lightening was
poor, forcing the pilot to return the passengers
to Abuja.
The passengers now felt the best way to
express their anger was to prevent other
planes from taking off or landing at the Abuja
airport. Continue...
Arik Air spokesperson, Mr. Adebanji Ola, said
that it was not the airline's fault that the
Calabar airport was closed by the time the
flight from Abuja got there.
He said,
“The flight was delayed because there was
Very Important Personality movement and
there was also some weather issues, it is
not the fault of the airline that the plane
could not land there. We are amazed that
despite the security at the Abuja airport,
passengers were still able to hijack the
aircraft and hold other planes to ransom,
that should not be the case.”