Passengers were left stranded this morning as aviation labour unions
shut down the gates to Murtala Mohammed Airport MMA2. This according to report was in protest of the unprovoked termination of 34 staff members of the air transport services senior staff association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN for
demanding from the management the payment of terminal benefits to
staff members who exited the services of the company lawfully in line
with the signed condition of service.
According to the memo of the notice of strike issued on Monday
signed by the principal deputy general secretary of the association,
Comrade Francis Akinjole, it said the action is an “anti-union
disposition of the management of Bicortney aviation services ltd,
operators of MMA2, as he considers the termination as victimisation of
its members and excos who are merely carrying out their constitutional
duties
Reacting to the situation, the management of Ibom airlines, one of the
operators at MMA2 in a press statement said:
“This is to bring to the attention of our esteemed passengers and the
public, that our operating terminal out of Lagos, the Murtala Mohamed
Airport 2, operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited has been
completely closed off to workers and passengers alike by the labour
Union, very early this morning.
Efforts are currently being made to resolve the situation; however,
please note that this action will greatly impact our flights scheduled
in and out of Lagos today.
We greatly regret the impact of this unexpected action on your day’s
plans as we urge you to kindly stay close to all our communication
channels for subsequent updates.”
About 50 flights come in and out of Lagos to different destinations in
Nigeria as MMA2 handles about 75% of domestic flights in Lagos.
In early 2009, the terminal was granted pioneer status by the Federal
Government as the first BOT project of its magnitude in the area of
infrastructure development. The terminal has the capacity to
facilitate four million passengers per annum with its modern
technological innovations, which include the Common Users Passenger
Processing System (CUPPS), self-service check-in kiosks, Automated
Access Gates and the Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS). MMA2 is the
first and only terminal to deploy such in Nigeria and the West and
Central Africa
Aviation experts have called on a mutual resolution of the issue as it
is coming at a time were Nigerians groan as a result of the strike
action by the National union of Road transport workers as both road and air transport activities are instrumental to the country’s economic activities and
growth.