Flight diversion during poor weather is a safety measure

In response to BusinessDay’s story about Air Peace Asaba-Abuja flight, Air Peace has said the practice of diverting flights as a result of poor weather is a safety measure that happens all over the world.

Stanley Olisa, spokesperson for Air Peace said on Wednesday, the weather in Abuja was poor so the aircraft could not land.

Olisa explained that as a safety measure, the flight was diverted to Lagos where it was refueled and departed for Abuja.

“It landed safely and flew back to Lagos with another set of passengers. It’s a weather issue. The pilots could not have landed an aircraft when the weather did not permit it,” he said.

BusinessDay had earlier reported that Mother luck on Wednesday smiled on 150 passengers on board an Air Peace plane from Asaba to Abuja as they narrowly escaped death after a heavy storm disrupted the plane from landing at the Abuja airport

The affected Air Peace flight departed Asaba Airport at 5.07pm and was estimated to arrive at Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport Abuja at 6pm but was diverted to Lagos.

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.