Many Nigerian travellers have been left stranded since Friday, September 23, 2022, when the staff at the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), which regulates air traffic control across 18 countries, downed their tools.
The travellers who were flying into Nigeria were stranded as the ASECNA staff embarked on the strike as demonstration over working conditions and pay, defying court rulings and government bans barring them from doing so.
A source, who was due to fly into Nigeria from South Africa, stated that his flight, which should have departed the O.R Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg to Nigeria on Friday night was grounded as a result of the strike action.
“Our flight has been grounded. We’re basically stranded here,” the source said.
Reacting to the development, ASECNA advised customers to check its website for updates on the matter.
“In spite of the prohibition of the strike by all the courts… the Union of Air Traffic Controllers’ Unions has launched a wildcat strike,” ASECNA said, adding that “we have already exhausted both administrative and institutional remedies in the management of this crisis, but we have in front of us trade unionists who are stubborn to do whatever they want.”
