Passengers decry South African Airways flight delays (The Nation)

The Nation reports that some passengers are worried over the delay in flights of South African

Airways (SAA) from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Two passengers, Frank Adeluyi and Williams Oladeji, said the delays were having negative impact

on their business, warning that further delays might force them to seek redress.

Adeluyi said the problem is becoming worrisome.

Oladeji said poor service delivery was no longer acceptable in the global aviation community.

He called on the airline and the affected service providers to raise the bar of service to avoid any

unnecessary infraction on passengers.

These worries are coming on the heels of recent delays in the take-off time of the carrier, which

now ranges from 40 to 50 minutes.

According to investigations, the delay in flights is not connected with the ongoing renovation of the

Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, which led to the switching into new

processes and procedures for check-in. This,observers say, might have made SAA to change its

ground handler at the airport.

Passengers, it was learnt, are disturbed over the trend, which they said, was taking a huge toll on

their travels.

In the last one week, attempts to reduce the delays in flight have not abated raising concerns

whether the change in service provider for ground and passenger handling may be responsible for

the problem.

Investigations reveal that the switch from the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company

(NAHCOAVIANCE), PLC to the Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), may have

caused some integration challenges that are affecting the operations of SAA.

SAHCOL, it was learnt, since it took over ground handling of SAA at the Murtala Muhammed

International Airport, is poised to render quality services, though some passengers allege that the

delays in flights of the carrier might have arisen because of alleged poor services by the firm.

Some passengers also alleged that equipment incapacity and service delivery might linger until the

ground handling firms in Nigeria prepare for the take- over of airlines with adequate operations.

However, a source close to SAA said the airline should not be blamed for the hitch.

He added that because the ground handling equipment at the airport broke down, officials of the

firm have been loading baggage into the aircraft manually.

An official of the ground handling firm, who refused to be named, said it was working hard to rectify

the problem.