Chinedu Eze
Many international carriers recorded up to four hours delays when they were forced to relocate from the old terminal to the new international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The situation seemed to have improved yesterday but there were a lot of disruptions on Wednesday and Thursday when international carriers were forced by the fire that burnt the baggage handling area of the old terminal to relocate to the new.
The relocation started on Wednesday, which led to many passengers missing their connection flights as majority of the airlines left Lagos late, including British Airways, Air France KLM and Qatar Airways, which left four hours beyond their schedule.
An airline official described the situation as chaotic because the new terminal had not been tested with such upsurge in passenger movement to the extent that travelers found it difficult to identify the check in counters of their airlines.
There was also baggage belt malfunctions at the new terminal, which exacerbated the passenger facilitation challenge.
THISDAY learnt that although the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo had directed that the old terminal should be vacated by October 1, 2023 for total rehabilitation of the facility, but the relocation process that ought to be gradual became sudden due to the fire that gutted part of the baggage area of the old terminal.
Although it was put out immediately but it affected baggage handling procedures, which prompted the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to direct all the airlines to move to the new terminal.
THISDAY learnt that although the new terminal has state-of-the-art facilities, it is smaller than the old terminal and this caused congestion, forcing passengers to spill outside the terminal and travelers with big luggage found it difficult to move their luggage to the checking in area.
Also, the facility has only one main entrance gate and passengers have to use escalator to climb to departures, which made movement sluggish, especially during peak hours.
But a FAAN official told THISDAY yesterday that the situation has improved because there was orderliness yesterday compared to the previous two days, Wednesday and Thursday and expressed the hope that the situation would get better.
“The airlines actually knew what to do but the terminal was small compared to the old one and that was what made passenger processing difficult, as check in took longer time and some passengers found it difficult to locate their airlines. It was difficult for passengers that have many luggage because they have to wait for the lift but those with lighter bags use the elevator. But things got better today (Friday) because there was orderliness and we hope it will continue to improve,” he said.
