How United Nigeria Airlines flew empty planes, dispatched engineers at midnight to save bird-strike grounded Airbus

…As domestic carriers lament soaring losses to bird strikes 

For years, Nigerian carriers have absorbed millions in losses from the incessant incidents of bird strike.

The losses associated with this are staggering with no help on the horizon for the local operators.

Worst affected in recent months has been United Nigeria Airlines. BusinessDay gathered exclusive details of the carrier’s response to a June 7 bird-strike incident at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, offering a rare glimpse into the operational, logistical and financial burdens Nigerian airlines shoulder to uphold safety standards and keep flights running despite recurring disruptions.

It was just past midnight on June 8, 2026, when two engineers from United Nigeria Airlines took an empty plane not to a business meeting but on an urgent mission. Their destination was Kano and their objective was to restore an Airbus A320-200 that had suffered a bird strike on landing at the Mallam Aminu International Airport, Kano and return it to airworthy condition. The airline would earn zero revenue from the aircraft flying to retrieve them.

Rather than earn money, the airline would incur losses. This is the story of what happens behind the scenes with many Nigerian carriers who fight to stay afloat in difficult terrain.

At approximately 18:00 hours on Sunday, June 7, 2026, United Nigeria Airlines Flight UN0578 was on final approach into Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport. The flight departed from Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MM2) in Lagos with its Airbus A320-200. Upon landing in Kano, it was discovered that the aircraft had suffered a bird strike.

The aircraft was immediately taken out of service. Per the airline’s strict safety protocols and in full compliance with international civil aviation regulations, there would be no quick turnaround, no cutting of corners, no attempt to push the Airbus back into service until every system had been rigorously inspected. Affected passengers were notified and fully taken care of. But for United Nigeria Airlines, the real work was only just beginning.

Within hours of the incident, United Nigeria Airlines mobilised its technical operations team. Engineers were immediately dispatched to Kano that same night to conduct a full technical recovery on the aircraft. An empty ferry flight which is an aircraft carrying no revenue-generating passengers, burning fuel, incurring costs at every turn was arranged purely to get the engineers to Kano and begin work.

A ferry flight in both directions, crew costs outside normal working hours, technical labour through the night, engineering parts, ground handling, airport fees were all logged not against a revenue-generating flight, but to repair a damage caused by nature. Millions of naira lost.

In an industry where safety is non-negotiable, the only acceptable response to a compromised aircraft is a complete one and that is what United Nigeria Airlines delivered.

The June 7 incident was not an isolated one.

United Nigeria Airlines has now suffered more than seven bird strike incidents in 2026 alone, a pattern that points to a growing threat to aviation safety at Nigerian airports.

Bird strikes rank among the most dangerous and costly hazards in commercial aviation worldwide, and Nigeria’s airports are not immune. Each incident costs the airline millions to fix.

The financial toll across those seven-plus incidents this year alone runs into tens of millions of naira.

Ferry flights, emergency engineering deployments, aircraft downtime, passenger accommodation, none of these costs appear on a departure board. They are absorbed by the airline.

Speaking to BusinessDay, the Chief Commercial Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Dayo Olawuyi, reflected on the airline’s response to the incident and the wider bird-strike challenge confronting Nigerian carriers, highlighting both the industry’s commitment to operational safety and the pressing need for stronger intervention and support from airport authorities.

“The question is never whether an incident happened because these are outside our control, the question is what you do in the next 12 hours. At United Nigeria Airlines, our answer is always the same: we mobilise everything we have, we do not wait for morning, and we do not compromise.

“At United Nigeria Airlines, operational efficiency is the standard against which every decision we make is measured. When we had the bird strike incident, our engineering team was dispatched to Kano at midnight, and they worked through the night because that is what our safety culture demands and what our passengers deserve.

“But I want to be honest about the cost of that commitment. Flying an empty aircraft to and from Kano for a technical recovery with zero revenue return is a significant financial burden.

With more than seven bird strike incidents recorded across our network in 2026 alone, the cumulative losses we are absorbing as an airline are substantial. We are talking about millions of naira in direct costs for incidents that originate not from our aircraft, our crew, or our operations, but from the airspace environment at our airports.

“Bird strikes are not inevitable but they are manageable. Airports across the world deploy trained wildlife management teams, radar-equipped bird-detection systems, habitat modification programmes, and specialist deterrent equipment to reduce the risk of bird ingestion incidents.

These are proven, effective interventions. We are calling on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and all relevant airport management bodies to invest in dedicated wildlife hazard management infrastructure and bring in qualified experts who can address this issue.

“Nigerian airlines cannot keep absorbing these losses in isolation. We will always do our part, we will always respond swiftly, safely, and with complete integrity when incidents occur. But preventing those incidents in the first place is a shared responsibility, and airport authorities must do more”, he explained.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) maintains detailed guidelines on aerodrome wildlife management. Many of the world’s leading airports employ full-time wildlife biologists, operate acoustic and radar-based deterrent systems, and conduct regular habitat surveys. These are standard components of a safe aerodrome environment.

By the time most of Kano had woken up on the morning of June 8, United Nigeria Airlines’ engineers had done their work. The Airbus A320-200 underwent comprehensive inspection and technical evaluation before being cleared for service, having met all regulatory and safety requirements.

The ferry operations had been completed, the financial implications absorbed, and the disruption successfully contained, another costly but necessary exercise in maintaining operational integrity and passenger safety.