Arik tops in flight delays, Air France ranks highest in pilfered luggage, report

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has released summary reports of complaints received against international and domestic airlines for the month of January, February and March 2016.

For the month of January, a total of 1, 282 flights were operated by 35 airlines. The airlines are Aero, African World, Air Cote d’Ivoire, Air France, Alitalia, Altas Air, Arik, ASKY, British Airways, Camair-Co, Cronos Air, Dana, 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 shows that Nigeria’s flag carrier airline, Arik tops the chart with 205 flights, 96 delays, three cancelled flights, 27, 791 total number of inbound passengers, 33, 055 number of outbound passengers, 28 unresolved complaints and compensation.

French carrier, Air France ranks highest with the highest number of pilferage and discourtesy. A total of 104 cases involving passengers luggage pilfered were reported and documented.

The French carrier 81 flights in January, 31 delayed flights, no cancelled flights with 133 unresolved complaints and inability to compensate travellers.

The airline had a total number of 17, 294 inbound passengers, 18, 197 outbound passengers and 361 missing baggage found.

Dubai based Emirates Airlines has the highest number of inbound and outbound passengers.  The airline recorded 35, 774 inbound passengers and 36, 627 total number of outbound passengers, making the airline the highest revenue earner to Nigeria, followed by British Airways.

Emirates high inbound and outbound passenger traffic is understandable for the simple reason that the carrier does two daily frequencies to Lagos.

In summary, total number of inbound passengers recorded by the 35 carriers stand at 221, 136 while 242, 711 departed the country’s airports.

For the period under review, a total number of 1282 flights operated on international routes, while 5, 399 flights operated on domestic routes.

Eight domestic airlines are in operation. The carriers operated 5, 399 flights, recorded 3, 029 delays, 120 cancelled flights with 346, 579 total number of inbound passengers and 367, 558 total number of outbound passengers.

For the month of February, a total of 1, 251 flights operated on international routes while 5, 143 flights operated on domestic routes.

For the month under review, all the international airlines operated 1, 251. They recorded 489 delays, eight cancellations, 571 missing baggage, 275 pilferage, 1,23, 572 inbound passengers and 138, 855 outbound passengers.

For domestic airlines, eight carriers operated 5, 143 flights and recorded 2, 634 delays. Sixty six cancellations were recorded. Total number of inbound passengers stands at 323, 489, while outbound passengers stands at 340, 413.

On domestic route, Aero Contractors operated 840 flights in February. The airline recorded 557 delays, 28 cancelled flights, 56, 186 total number of inbound passengers and 60, 227 outbound passengers.

Arik had the highest number of flight operated. The airline operated 1, 779 flight in the month of February 2016; 866 flights delayed; 28 cancelled flights. The company had a total number 98, 010  total number of inbound passengers and 102, 103 outbound passengers.

Collectively, Aero, Arik, Azman Air, Dana, Medview, Overland, First Nation and Air Peace operated 5, 143 flights and 2, 634 flight delays.

For March 2016, a total number of 1, 508 flights operated on international routes while 4, 892 flights operated on domestic routes.

Wole Shadare