British Airways, KLM, Air France, SAA and a number of other airlines have cancelled flights to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Nigerian capital Abuja due to the dangers posed by the state of disrepair of the runway.
SAA on its part cancelled flights for six weeks, as repairs on the runway began on Wednesday. This follows an incident last August when one of its planes was damaged after landing there.
According to the Nigerian authorities, the damage to the runway is so extensive that repairs can’t be undertaken at night.
The airlines rejected the Nigerian government’s proposal to divert flights to Kaduna and take passengers by bus on a journey of about 250km (155 miles) to Abuja, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
The reason behind declining the offer, of the alternative and circuitous route, was that it included an extra three-and-a-half-hours of travel time on a road notorious for accidents and kidnappings.
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