International Passengers Left Stranded At Nigeria’s Lagos Airport

While departing the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, International passengers were stranded in Nigeria on Wednesday and Thursday as failure in the baggage belt led to delay and cancelation of flights.

The airport witnessed chaos while the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and foreign airline officials were trying to resolve the baggage failure at MMIA's new terminal. The chaos took place after foreign airlines were asked to switch terminals following a power failure.

Kenya Airways had to cancel its flights after its crew's rest period was exceeded. Later, the stranded passengers had to stay at the Lagos hotel.

Director of Media at Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua, explained that there was a fire at the airport due to which the power supply was affected which led to the chaos.

"We are doing our best to make it better," he said, Punch reported. "Issues like this will come with some challenges and hitches. Things are now as good as good as they should be and we hope it will be better. The MD and directors were there up till this evening."

British Airways, AirFrance, KLM, and Qatar Airways flights were supposed to leave Lagos Airport around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday but they were able to take off around 4:00 a.m. on Thursday.

A top official of a European carrier explained the situation and said that the "conveyor belts at the new terminal failed to work from last night (Wednesday). After the fire incident at the old terminal, which was put out, the smoke was heavy and the terminal had to be evacuated."

The light was turned on after the smoke went out and everything looked normal.

"I left the airport at about 5:00 p.m. Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, KLM and United Airlines were already checking in at that time," she said. "At about 8:00 pm, however, FAAN officials came and asked everybody to leave the terminal and proceed to the new terminal to complete their check-in process."

She added, "Of course, the airlines resisted because they were still checking in their passengers. FAAN switched off the power at the check-in desks, so we were forcefully moved."

The passenger shared that all airlines were asked to move to the new terminal but it seems that the baggage belts were not constructed to handle a lot of bags. Hence, the baggage belts kept breaking down from time to time and started to pile up a lot of bags.

FAAN explained the situation on Thursday, "The expedited relocation to the New International Terminal at MMIA was deemed necessary due to the unfortunate fire incident that occurred at International Terminal 1 yesterday."

MMIA, inaugurated 15 months ago, is still deserted due to parking space and other issues. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development of Nigeria, Festus Keyamo, announced earlier this month that the terminal will be taken under renovation from Oct. 1.