Air Peace airlines has given further context to a viral video post where passengers were seen rushing and falling over themselves to get on a its flight at Abuja airport. The airline said the flight delay on the day was caused by harmattan haze, adding that it had deployed adequate aircraft to airlift passengers to their destinations.

The public had since called out the airline for delaying the flight and allowing the situation to escalate to the level where passengers struggled to get onboard.

Stakeholders also raised concerns that if passengers have a boarding pass, they are not supposed to be afraid that the airline had sold more tickets than they have seats; hence the rush to get onboard.

In a statement by Ejike Ndiulo, Head, Corporate Communications, Air Peace it explained that on the day in question, there were flight delays because of poor weather conditions, specifically harmattan-induced haze and fog, which it said was common at this time of the year, and which significantly limits visibility and impacts flight operations nationwide.

According to Ndiulo, to ensure that passengers continued their journeys with minimum disruptions, it deployed three aircraft to Abuja to evacuate all the passengers.

“While processing them for their flights at the boarding gate, passengers overwhelmed both the FAAN and boarding officers and rushed to the airside. Duty managers and ramp officials then had to mount barricades in front of the motorized step to differentiate passengers on flights.

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“While we empathise with you, our loyal customer, we condemn in very strong terms the misinformation, insults and deliberate falsehood disseminated in the video post. Such representations are not reflective of our values or operations.

There is no truth in the allegation, and we urge the public to disregard the report in all its entirety,” he said.

He said the video post was designed by some faceless individuals with the intent of misleading the flying public to cause confusion and distraction for management of Air Peace and its stakeholders including the regulators.

“We appreciate your understanding and patience during this period and sincerely regret any inconvenience these delays may have caused you. The safety of our passengers and crew is our utmost priority,” the airline added.

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.

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