The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has suspended the wet-leased aircraft operated by the United Nigeria Airline following the diversion of a flight destined for Abuja from Lagos to the Asaba International Airport, Delta State.
This is contrary to reports making the rounds in the media that all the planes in the airline’s fleet are affected and would remain suspended pending the outcome of the investigation into the incident that happened on Sunday.
A source within the airline
confirmed the development on condition of anonymity, saying that ‘obky’, the plane that was involved in the flight diversion incident to Asaba, was the only one affected by the suspension.
It was learnt that the NCAA, the apex Civil Aviation Regulatory body, took the decision on Monday via a letter sent to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the airline.
It was learnt that the moment the incident started trending on social media on Sunday, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Capt. Musa Nuhu called an emergency meeting of the agency, where it was resolved that the excuse given by the airline was unsatisfactory to the authority.
Besides, it was learnt that the report obtained from the Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), contradicted the claim of the airline which blamed the incident on poor weather situation in Abuja as at the time of the diversion.
Although reports said that no fewer than two wet-leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft were in the fleet of United Nigeria Airlines, the source insisted that the airline had only one and that it was the one affected by the suspension.
