Air passengers experienced confusion on Sunday when a United Nigeria Airlines flight bound for Abuja unexpectedly landed at Asaba International Airport in Delta State.
Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, a passenger on the flight and the 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party in Kano State, shared his account of the incident on social media.
He mentioned that the cabin crew confidently announced their arrival in Abuja, only for the passengers to realize they had landed in Asaba instead. Another passenger, Augustine Macky, uploaded a video showing fellow passengers expressing their frustration about the mistake.
Tanko-Yakasai later joked about not wanting to land in Osogbo next.
The airline, United Nigeria Airline, confirmed the incident and explained that the diversion to Asaba was due to poor weather conditions at the original destination.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the airline’s spokesperson, Uchegbu Achilleus-Chud, explained that the affected aircraft, NUA 0504, was “temporarily diverted to Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather.”
Mr Achilleus-Chud said “a wrong announcement” by the cabin crew upon landing at Asaba was what created the confusion among passengers.
“At all material time, the pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed,” he said.
The spokesperson announced that the aircraft has now “landed safely in Abuja following improvement on destination weather.”
He maintained that the airline was committed to ensuring the safety of their passengers at all times.
