- Car hire operators lament low patronage
Hundreds of passengers thronged the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos on Monday to secure seats to travel to their various destinations.
But, it was not a pleasant experience as they had to pay between N60, 000 and N95,400 to secure a seat on the economy cabin in most of the domestic carriers flying on the Lagos/Abuja/ Port Harcourt /Benin/Asaba and other routes.
Many passengers who looked forward to booking seats were disappointed as the portal indicated there was no space on board the carriers.
Worried over the trend, passengers that thronged the airports terminals had to approach airline ticketing counter personnel, which could only offer higher fares.
At the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja, counters of AeroContractors, Arik Air, Air Peace, AZMAN Air and Max Air were busy as the personnel on ground attended to passengers.
Even Dana Air, which experienced disruption in its operations at the weekend following the unserviceability of two of its aircraft operated flights on the Lagos / Abuja rotation.
At the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), Lagos, passengers milled around the West End and East End sections of the airport to secure seats on the two carriers -Arik Air and Air Peace which operate flights from the terminal.
New entrant – Ibom Air- also had its fair share of passengers load factor on the Lagos/Calabar/Enugu/ Uyo routes.
Prospective scheduled operator – United Nigeria Airlines – also opened its counters at the MMA2 with the inscription “To begin flights soon”.
Meanwhile, car hire operators at the airport complained of low patronage as most of the passengers that showed up at the airport were for outbound trips.
Most of the inbound passengers were picked up by cars driven either by relatives/friends of the passengers.
At the international wing of the Lagos Airport, normal activities were ongoing as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) restricted movement on non travellers hundreds of metres away from the terminal building.
Many international passengers have, however, expressed worry over the manner Port Health Services officials were handling pre – arrival PCR COVID-19 tests.
