A report released by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has shown that over than 52 percent of the flights operated in Nigeria from January to March, 2016 were delayed,
The report shows that 10, 155 out of 19, 475 flights equivalent to 52.12 per cent experienced delay within the period which experts said it was far above reasonable figure.
An aviation analyst, Group Capt. John Ojikutu, rtd, described the rate of cancellation as worrisome, urging the NCAA to investigate the cause of the delays and impose necessary sanction on any airline found culpable.
However, most of the airlines blamed scarcity of aviation fuel for the incessant cancellations of the flights at several occasions.
The flights comprised 15, 434 local and 4,041 international flights operated by 30 foreign carriers and eight domestic airlines were delayed. While 281 domestic flights were cancelled, only 47 were cancelled on the international routes.
The airlines are Aero, African World, Air Cote d’Ivoire, Air France, Alitalia, Altas Air, Arik, ASKY, British Airways, Camair-Co, Cronos Air, Dana Air, Delta Air, Egypt Air, Emirates, Ethiopian Air, Etihad, Gambia Bird, Iberia, Kenya Airways.
Others are KLM, Lufthansa, Max Air, Medview, Middle East Airlines, Qatar, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordan, Rwandair, Saudi Air, Sudan Air, South African Airways, Turkish Air, United and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
The report also indicated that 1, 520 complaints were received on the international flights dominated by foreign carriers while only 16 complaints were reported on the domestic flights.
Also international flights topped the list of reported cases of missing baggage with 1, 808, 571, 851 cases recorded in January, February and March respectively.
