Nigerian govt grounds Turkish Airlines

The Federal Government has ordered the suspension of Turkish Airlines’ operations in Nigeria on account of “repeated cases of poor passenger treatment.”

The directive, which was issued by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), ordered the airline to suspend its operations until it was ready to operate with the right size of aircraft that can transport all passengers with their baggage at the same time.

Capt. Abdullahi Sidi, NCAA Acting Director-General, in a letter to the airline which was made available to newsmen on Thursday, expressed serious displeasure over the incidents, which it said had been going on for over two weeks.

Sidi said the incidents had become so bad that most recent Turkish Airlines’ flights arrived Nigeria without more than 85 per cent of passengers’ baggage on board.

He said, “Our airport authority had been facing serious crises controlling the passengers at the airport whenever they arrived without their baggage.

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“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.

“If no remedial action is carried out by your airline, this suspension shall be effective from the 16th of December, 2019.”

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