AIR Peace has attributed the delay and cancellation of some of its flights on Monday and Tuesday to a power surge at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
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The Corporate Communications Manager of Air Peace, Mr Chris Iwarah, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
He said the surge cut power supply to the airline’s server room and other facilities critical to its flight operations.
Iwarah said the airline had to resort to alternative arrangements to save its operations from entirely grinding to a halt pending the intervention of the managers of the facility, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
He said: “Despite our best efforts to ensure smooth flight operations in the run-up to the Yuletide, a power surge occurred at our base at the GAT of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Monday.
“The unfortunate incident, which stretched into Tuesday, cut power supply to our server room and other critical facilities for our operations.
“While FAAN was trying to fix the situation and restore power to the facility, we resorted to emergency measures to mitigate the impact of the incident on our flight schedules.
“Notwithstanding our efforts, the incident seriously affected our check-in and boarding operations and occasioned a lot of delays and outright cancellation of some of our flights.”
Iwarah, therefore, appealed for the understanding of air travellers, assuring them that it had taken steps to normalise its operations.
“While FAAN works to guarantee uninterrupted power supply to the airport, we will continue to work round the clock to normalise our operations and sustain our on-time reputation,” he said.
Meanwhile, FAAN in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, apologised to passengers and other airport users for the power surge.
Yakubu said: “Our team of engineers had since swung into action and power has been fully restored back to the Terminal and seamless operations had ensued.
“While assuring airport users of safety and security at our airports, FAAN wishes to apologise to passengers, airlines and the general public for the inconvenience caused by this interruption.”