BA diverts flight to Abuja as Lagos runway lights collapse

All international flights on Friday diverted their Lagos-bound flights to Abuja airport over non-functional runway lights at the Lagos airport.

Passengers supposed to arrive from other countries into Lagos on Friday are currently stranded in Abuja airport over inability of airlines to land at Nigeria’s mega city.

On Friday, British Airways sent a message to it’s passengers that it’s Friday flight from London to Lagos had to divert to Abuja airport due to local infrastructure issues in Lagos.

The message reads: “BA075 Lagos – We’re very sorry your flight to Lagos had to divert to Abuja due to local infrastructure issues in Lagos. Your new estimated departure time is on 19th June at 12:00 local time, arriving into Lagos at around 13:30 local time.

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” Transport from the hotel will depart for the airport at 08:00 local time. Please continue to check ba.com/flight status.”

A source close to one of the agencies told BusinessDay that flights couldn’t land on Friday night because the runway lights were not functioning at the time.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) was yet to respond to the issue but findings show that other airlines may be diverting Lagos flights on Saturday for the same reason.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.