Chaos at Lagos airport, as passengers rush to beat FG travel restriction
- Foreign airlines suspend flights
- Lufthansa stops flight to Lagos from March 23rd
- Air France, KLM cut schedules
- Rwandair suspends flights to Lagos for 30 days
- BA in tactical flight cancellations
The score of passengers inside the expansive the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos is unprecedented. Thousands of travelers besieged the facility as they tried to catch the last flights out of Lagos to 13 destinations listed in the Federal Government’s travel restriction before the restriction takes effect tomorrow.
The rush led to massive vehicular traffic spanning over three kilometers. Those who could not wait for their vehicles to take them to the drop off zones decided to carry their baggage on their heads to walk the long distance to the terminal.
All available spaces inside the terminal were taken over by intending travelers fuelling the fear of possible spread of the dreaded Coronavirus.
Suspecting that the ban placed on United State of America, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Iran, Switzerland, Norway, Netherland, France, South Korea, Germany, Italy and Spain would have on the skeletal operations they already do, many European airlines have decided to suspend flights to the country.
Lufthansa German Airlines in its notification of flights suspension sent to its passengers but intercepted by Woleashadarenewssaid its flights out of Nigeria are, “hereby suspended from March 23, 2020 until April 19, 2020”.
The carrier disclosed that the last flights from Port-Harcourt will operate today (Friday) March 20, 2020 and from Lagos and Abuja on Sunday March 22, 2020 to resume on April 20, 2020 as currently planned.
The carrier stated that due to the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, their ticketing offices are closed to walk-in customers until further notice.
Air France-KLM said its travel policy in and out of Nigeria are changing by the day due to many factors like travel bans/restrictions, border closure, stressing that it is becoming more difficult to know what is going to happen next.
“Therefore, at this stage, we would like to share the following flight schedule with you. KLM Lagos to Amsterdam flies till Wednesday, March 25, 2020 but will not fly on March 23 and 24th, 2020. Air France Lagos to Paris flies till Sunday March 22, 2020. Air France Abuja to Paris is currently not flying any more due to Ndjamena closure”.
South African Airways’ to Lagos for March 21, 23rd, 25th,27, 29thand 31st March 2020 of Johannesburg-Lagos Johannesburg are cancelled due to flight disruptions and restrictions caused by Coronavirus.
The carrier stated that passengers are being re-accommodated on the next available flights operated by SAA.
Rwandair has suspended all flights effective March 21, 2020 to Nigeria for a period of 30 days due to the corona virus pandemic.
The airline advised all passengers issued to fly on Rwandair during this period to open their tickets and use them within the validity period of a year from date of original ticket issuance.
British Airways said as a result of the ongoing COVID-19, it would be having tactical flights cancellations from March 29th, 2020.
It said the cancellations would affect flights in and out of Lagos and Abuja airports, stressing that passengers are rescheduled based on available dates.
