No fewer than 100 passengers of Max Air, one of the nation’s domestic carriers, were stranded for almost 14 hours yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The delay left many passengers angry as the 12:55 pm flight on Sunday was moved to 7:50 pm before it was further rescheduled to 12:40 am.

Passengers who spoke with our correspondent complained over alleged shabby treatment meted out to them by officials of the airline.

They expressed concern over the long hours of delay without providing adequate feeding for them as stipulated by the regulations.

“We are just being held hostage here at the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and we have been here for the past 10 hours. Our flight was for 12:55 p.m,” one of the passengers said.

Another passenger lamented that the airline was not telling them what was happening, saying they have been kept in the dark as to the departure of their flight.

“People are just here but we are not confident, they are not saying clearly what exactly happened, they have been saying due to operational reasons. The airline has been doing this and as I am talking to you, passengers are very angry and that the airlines, not only Max Air, have been doing this and going away with it.”

The passenger who spoke with our correspondent and pleaded for anonymity said the airline only provided snacks for the stranded passengers after being delayed for over 10 hours.

As of the time of filing this report, the passengers were still at the airport uncertain of when they would be flown to Abuja.

Daily Trust, however, learnt that one of the aircraft in the fleet of the airline suffered a tyre burst at Yola Airport which led to the aircraft, a Boeing 737, grounded at Yola.

Sources said the aircraft was positioned to serve Kano-Abuja passengers and other sectors for the day, adding that this disrupted the operations of the airline.

An official of the airline who spoke with our correspondent in confidence because he was not the official spokesman of the airline blamed the disruption on the incident in Yola, saying the airline is working to get a backup aircraft to operate the backlog of flights delayed as a result of the incident.”

When contacted, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Michael Achimugu confirmed that the airline’s aircraft was grounded over the Yola incident and said the operator was trying to “wet lease” another aircraft to evacuate the passengers.

“As they are keeping people waiting, have they been fed? Apart from that, once it is 10 p.m, those not from Kano City are supposed to be given accommodation. Delay is not the problem, is the airline doing what they are supposed to do in terms of compensation to the passengers?” (Daily Trust)

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