Gozzylous Blog

Photo credit: Planes in the fog at Heathrow Airport   Steve Parsons/P A Thousands of passengers are left stranded in Heathrow and other airports in the United Kingdom as  airlines cancel hundreds of flights to and from  Heathrow  due foggy weather condition. Dozens more are delayed by an hour or more, with the likelihood of more cancellations as operations are further disrupted. British Airways has cancelled 80 flights so far, mostly domestic services or short European hops - though links to and from Athens, Moscow and St Petersburg have also been grounded by the fog. Please read The Independent for details. http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/weather-freezing-fog-latest-heathrow-airport-more-than-10000-travellers-hit-by-flight-cancellations

Bi-Courtney Invites More Airlines to MMA2 Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) in Lagos, has assured domestic airlines and passengers wishing to use the Kaduna Airport as alternative to Abuja Airport that MMA2 has the capacity to process all domestic flights and passengers during the proposed closure of the latter. It is expected that many international airlines operating in Abuja would divert to Lagos to offload passengers, which would increase the frequency of local flights emanating from Lagos to other destinations. http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/01/23/bi-courtney-invites-more-airlines-to-mma2/ Aviation Roundtable Slams NCAA over Abuja Airport Saga The controversy over the proposed closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja for six weeks has prompted the foremost aviation industry think-tank, Aviation Roundtable (ART), to task the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authori...

I am still wondering how Kaduna Airport will cope as a temporary hub! The Federal Airport Authority, Kaduna State Government and domestic airlines who will use the airport must plan ahead to ensure that passengers are not put through additional stress. Please find the headlines below and follow the links to read the stories in full. Abuja Airport: Aviation Professionals Endorse Closure Aviation professionals under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) yesterday okayed the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja for the six-week repair period. ANAP Secretary General, Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu who made the position known to journalists at their secretariat at the Lagos airport said the association is in total support of the closure of the airport and use of Kaduna airport as alternative in the interest of safety of air travelers. According to him, Kaduna is best alternative to Abuja airport as it has a longer runw...

AirlineRatings.com   recently published the list of the safest airlines in the world. No African Carrier made the list!  AirlineRatings.com says some of the yardsticks it uses for rating airlines include  "audits from aviation’s governing bodies and lead associations; government audits; airline’s crash and serious incident record; profitability and fleet age". Australia's Qantas came tops in the list. PHOTO CREDIT; Boeing The airlines are: Air New Zealand Alaska Airlines  All Nippon Airways British Airways Cathay Pacific Airways Delta Air Lines Etihad Airways EVA Air Finnair Hawaiian Airlines Japan Airlines  KLM  Lufthansa Qantas  Scandinavian Airline System Singapore Airlines  Swiss  United Airlines Virgin Atlantic  Virgin Australia

Employees of British Airways hold posters and banners as they start the 48-hour cabin crew strike at Heathrow Airport in London PHOTO CREDIT: www.dailymail.co.uk British Airways  Cabin Crew members have been threatening to go on strike since last year over pay dispute so the 48 hours strike which started on Tuesday did not come as a surprise to industry watchers. The strike is being championed by members of Unite Trade Union to press for better wages for their members. Though www.bbc.com report says the British Airways has announced that most flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports will not be affected , the real impact of the strike will be known after the strike.

The year is still very young but the rate at which air-travelers are left stranded at airports is not encouraging. While it is true that no airline will deliberately want to delay or cancel flights, the airlines have a duty to manage these disruptions professionally without  unduly inconveniencing the passengers. Please find the headlines below and follow the links to read the stories in full. Chaos as Turkish Airlines Suspends Lagos – Istanbul Flight PHOTO CREDIT: www.seatplans.com …passengers stranded for four days in Lagos.  Air travellers flying directly from Lagos to Istanbul, Turkey are having a hell of time as Turkish Airlines has temporary grounded its operations on the route citing harsh weather conditions at Instanbul Airport as reason. In the last four days, two sets of passengers on flights on the Lagos – Istanbul route have been left stranded in Lagos with untidy accommodation arrangements leading to protests by affected passengers. ...

Hotel Ejects Stranded Turkish Airlines’ Passengers Travellers plan class suit The quick intervention of security operatives yesterday prevented stranded Turkish Airlines’ passengers from taking laws into their hands at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos when they stormed the airline’s counter. The 410 passengers’ frustration came to a head when the hotel they were lodged since Saturday evicted them from the facility, forcing them to the airport to find out why they were thrown out of Golden Tulip Hotel, Festac. They said the carrier was not forthcoming when they stormed the airline’s Head office at its Victoria Island in Lagos. When New Telegraph visited the airport, the airline was seen selling tick ets even when it was not certain of airlifting the backlog of passengers as it was not sure when it would operate out of Lagos. https://newtelegraphonline.com/news/hotel-ejects-stranded-turkish-airlines-passengers/ Buhari Sacks, Replaces Heads of Aviation Agenci...

Happy new year to all of us!  The year 2017 promises to be a better year for Nigeria's aviation sector as the new safety rating by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is indeed a confidence booster for the industry. Please find the headlines below and follow the links to read the stories in full. Nigeria Gets New ICAO Safety Rating Nigeria yesterday attained another International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety rating, which now places it among the world leaders in the implementation of safety processes in its aviation sector operations. A statement by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the country has climbed to Level 3 State Safety Programme (SSP) Implementation Process. This categorisation is dependent on the ICAO, which tracks the SSP implementation process of member-states via its integrated Safety Trend Analysis and Reporting System (iSTARS). An SSP is an integrated set of regulations and activities aimed at improvi...