The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, has contradicted claims that the diversion of United Nigeria Airlines’ Lagos-Abuja flight to Asaba on Sunday was due to adverse weather conditions.
Keyamo made this statement during a meeting with airline operators in Abuja on Monday.
On Sunday, Parallel Facts reports the Lagos-Abuja flight of United Nigeria Airlines was diverted to Asaba, Delta State capital, due to poor weather conditions.
The Flight NUA 0504, which took off from the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Terminal 2, bound for Abuja, was diverted to Asaba International Airport, Delta State, causing confusion among passengers.
United Airlines had attributed the diversion to bad weather conditions, saying “A United Nigeria Airlines flight, NUA 0504, operating from the MM@ in Lagos enroute Abuja on Sunday, November 26, 2023, was temporarily diverted to the Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather.”
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Keyamo’s remarks came in the context of heightened safety concerns in the aviation sector, prompting him to summon heads of aviation regulatory agencies for a meeting
The minister disputed the weather-related explanation, stating, “It was clear that when the pilot was taking off from Lagos, he was headed to Asaba, not Abuja.
“Whereas the flight was headed to Abuja. There was no weather problem in Abuja. It was a question of a wet lease where the pilot and the crew were all foreigners, not Nigerians,” he revealed.