Azman and Ibom Air Resume Flight Operations
Following the strike that disrupted tuesday flights, Ibom Air and Azman Air have resumed flight operations at Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal 2, Lagos.
When the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) protested the firing of 37 employees by the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited yesterday, some flights were canceled and traffic was hampered.
The union had claimed that during the weekend, some of its members had been fired without cause and had blocked airport gates as early as 2am.
Immediately after learning of the issue, Azman Air and Ibom Air advised travelers to check in early and warned that the strike action might have an impact on air traffic.
Some airlines and passengers were required to process their flights and buy tickets at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), run by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
UPDATE
IBOM AIR IS OPERATING FROM THE GENERAL AVIATION TERMINAL LAGOS (GAT- MMA1)
Dear Valued Passengers,
Kindly note that due to the ongoing Labour Union disruption at MMA2, our flights to and from Lagos today, November 1st, 2022, pic.twitter.com/x8ytNOHpCn
— Ibom Air (@ibomairlines) November 1, 2022
Later on in the day, however, both Ibom Air and Azman Air declared that everything had returned to normal at the airport and that flights scheduled for today, November 2, 2022, would depart right away.
Ibom Air communicate via its official twitter page, “Dear Valued Passengers. We are pleased to announce our flight resumption at MMA2 Lagos, therefore, our flights from the 2nd of November 2022 will operate per schedule into & from MMA2 Lagos.
“Thank you for your patience & understanding.”
Dear Valued Passengers,
We're pleased to announce our flight resumption at MMA2 Lagos, therefore our flights from the 2nd of November 2022 will operate per schedule into & from MMA2 Lagos.
Thank you for your patience & understanding.
Signed,
Management
Ibom Airlines Limited pic.twitter.com/FlJ9yahlUS— Ibom Air (@ibomairlines) November 1, 2022
Similar to this, Azman Air thanked customers for their patience also tweeted about informing passengers that flights would resume at MMA2, “This is to inform all our esteemed passengers departing from Lagos that normalcy has been restored at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Domestic Terminal 2 (MMA2). In lieu of this, all our operations will resume at the Terminal accordingly. We sincerely appreciate your understanding during the picketing at the Terminal and we are confident the situation has been handled with no hope of reoccurrence.”
UPDATE: @AzmanAir Restores Operations at MMA2 #Lagos. All Intending Passengers should kindly take note.https://t.co/QVwapWYK3Q#LetsFlyAzmanAir#Abuja #Kano #Kaduna #Gombe #BirninKebbi https://t.co/YYPDKEaKRF pic.twitter.com/oOBv1Mve1c
— AzmanAir – #LetsFlyAzmanAir (@AzmanAir) November 1, 2022
In a statement about the strike’s effects, George Uriesi, the chief operating officer of Ibom Airlines Limited, said that at least 1,900 passengers had their travel plans affected.
Let’s consider the practical ramifications of the labor action that was taken today at MM2, Uriesi stated. “To begin with, my airline had 31 flights scheduled for today, with 98% of them starting in Lagos, ending there, or connecting there. This meant that we interfered with the plans of about 1,900 paid passengers. Only God is able to completely quantify this in terms of trauma as well as economics.
“Much of the catering that was purchased, paid for, and delivered for our flights today is now wasted for us, the airline (due to perishability). We had to rearrange at least 1,000 already confirmed and booked passengers on different flights starting tomorrow, which put a tremendous amount of pressure on the system and cost us a lot in lost income (we had to remove tickets from the sales inventory). Additionally, we had to make plans to operate into and out of GAT today, which added significantly to the cost and inconvenience. Lots of unneeded and unplanned loss of revenue for the service providers (ground handlers, contracted security, etc.). massive man-hour waste”
He argued that the industry can hardly afford yesterday’s largely ineffective day at this crucial time. Moving forward, he asked that the issue be rectified, particularly for the expansion of the aviation sector.
The strike against the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, BASL, has been called off, according to a document sent by the national office of ATSSSAN to all its branches and other unions that joined it in picketing MMA2.
However, according to the memo, a peace was negotiated “during a meeting empanelled by the Ministry of Labour & Employment; Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and airport security agencies.”
