By Ayodeji Adegboyega
The federal government has suspended the operations of Turkish Airlines in Nigeria due to the airline’s perceived poor treatment of passengers.
The directive, which was given through the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, will continue “if no remedial action is carried out by the airline.”
According to a letter by the Acting Director-General, NCAA, Abdullahi Sidi, it expressed displeasure about the rampant cases “of not bringing passengers into Nigeria with their checked-in luggage.”
The incidents according to the letter, “have been going on for two weeks and has become so bad that most recent Turkish Airlines’ flights arrived Nigeria without more than 85 per cent of passengers’ baggage on board.”
It said the series of meetings held by the authority and the airline personnel did not yield results.
Mr Sidi said the suspension will be on “until the airline is ready to operate with the right size of aircraft that can transport all passengers with their baggage at the same time.”
Part of the statement reads:
“Our airport authority had been facing serious crises controlling the passengers at the airport whenever they arrived without their baggage.
“This issue had made passengers carry out several mob actions at our airport and it was a great threat to our airport facilities.
“In view of all these, and a series of meetings held with the Turkish Airlines’ personnel, which did not yield any solution to this problem, the NCAA is therefore left with no option than to direct Turkish Airlines to suspend its operations into Nigeria until such a time when the airline is ready to operate with the right size of aircraft that can transport all passengers with their baggage at the same time.
