TheNewsGuru

Tag: Passengers

  • African Airlines record increase traffic, passengers in June – IATA

    African Airlines record increase traffic, passengers in June – IATA

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says African airlines recorded remarkable growth in traffic, capacity and load factor in June.

    A statement by IATA on Thursday disclosed that the airlines’ traffic soared by 9.9 per cent, capacity by 7.1 per cent, while load factor jumped to 64.3 per cent during the month.

    It explained that conditions in the region’s two largest economies had continued to diverge, with business confidence in Nigeria rising sharply in recent months as South Africa’s economy fell into recession.

    IATA also announced that the global passenger traffic data for June showed that demand measured in total revenue passenger km (RPKs) rose by 7.8 per cent compared to this period a year ago.

    According to the report, the rise was in line with the 7.7 per cent growth recorded in May, when all regions reported growth while June capacity available seat (ASKs) increased by 6.5 per cent.

    It added that the load factor rose by one percentage point to 81.9 per cent during the month.

    IATA’s Director General, Alexandre de Juniac, said the industry experienced a 12-year high in traffic growth of 7.9 per cent and 80.7 per cent load factor during the first half 2017.

    According to Juniac, a brighter economic picture and lower airfares are keeping demand for travel strong but as costs rise, this stimulus of lower fares is likely to fade.

    “Uncertainties such as Brexit need to be watched carefully but nonetheless, IATA still expect 2017 to see above-trend growth.

    “The demand for travel is strong and that, in turn, will make a positive contribution to the global economy and this growth will also further expose infrastructure deficiencies.

    “In every part of the world, airport and air navigation infrastructure is struggling to cope with demand and there are plenty of examples linking connectivity and economic prosperity.

    “But few governments have been able to deliver on the imperatives of sufficient capacity, quality aligned with user needs and affordability.

    “This year’s strong growth is a reminder that there is no time to lose,” he said.

     

     

    NAN

  • Bomb Scare: Passengers jump off plane in Australia

    Bomb Scare: Passengers jump off plane in Australia

    Terrified passengers jumped from a Virgin Airline plane at an Australian airport after a threatening note was found on board. According to AAP, passengers were told to leave their luggage and jump about 1.2 metres from the exits onto the tarmac.

    The reported bomb threat, which turned out to be a hoax, was found in the bathroom just a day after a deadly terrorist siege in Melbourne.

    “Nothing was found, there was no actual threat to anybody, just a note, so there was nothing in it,” a police spokeswoman told Reuters. Police said the 68-passenger turboprop plane with 42 passengers on board on a domestic flight was evacuated at the airport in Albury, in southern New South Wales.

    A man was arrested. A passenger told the Australian Associated Press he heard someone shout: “Leave your luggage. Get out and run, run, run.”

    “Police and emergency services attended Albury airport after receiving information that a note was located in the toilet area,” New South Wales state police spokeswoman Emily Waters said.

    “All passengers disembarked and a man was arrested within five minutes,” Waters said, declining to provide further details.

    She did not say what was written on the note although News Corp Australia reports it suggested there was a bomb on board. Mirror quoted Virgin Australia as saying that police met the plane on its arrival “due to a security incident on board”.

    It could not immediately confirm how many passengers were on board.

    Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said police were treating a deadly siege in the southern city of Melbourne as an “act of terrorism” after a claim by the Islamic State group that one of its fighters was the gunman responsible.

    Meanwhile, a 30-year-old man who was among the 42 passengers on the flight was arrested on the tarmac and taken to Albury Police Station.

    He was later charged with sending a document threatening death or grievous bodily harm and giving false information. The man was released on bail to appear in Albury Local Court on July 4. AAP understands the note was just one word and suggested possible danger on board.

    The arrested passenger was said to be calm throughout the flight. He read a novel and went to the bathroom once. Local police congratulated cabin crew and passengers for the swift evacuation.

    “The plane landed at 9.35am and within five minutes we had the plane and the occupants secure and safe,” Albury commander Superintendent Evan Quarmby told reporters.

    “All of the occupants of the aeroplane were evacuated safely, very efficiently and should all be congratulated on the assistance they’ve given to police this morning.” It was initially reported the doors of the plane were “ripped off” by authorities but Virgin later clarified they were opened from the inside, likely by cabin crew.

    Sydney retiree Wendy Willett said a hostess shouted: “Evacuate, evacuate. Leave all your belongings, jump out the window.” Another passenger told AAP he heard cabin crew saying: “Leave your luggage. Get out and run, run, run.”

    A Virgin spokeswoman said crew denied saying that, however. She suggested a passenger caught up in the commotion may have yelled out “run, run, run”.

  • Ethiopian Airline airlifts 4,500 passengers from Kaduna Airport in 28 days

    Ethiopian Airline airlifts 4,500 passengers from Kaduna Airport in 28 days

    Ethiopian Airlines says it has airlifted over 4,500 passengers from Kaduna International Airport since it commenced flight operations from the airport on March 8.

    Mrs Firiehiwot Mekonnen, the airline’s Traffic and Sales Manager, told the newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja that it had so far operated 28 flights from the airport.

    “We have airlifted more than 4,500 passengers; we also operated 28 flights from March 8 to April 4 and our experience so far is good.

    “Ethiopian Airlines, having a vision of being the leading aviation group, is working hard to have more than 120 destinations as one of the vision 2025 goals,” she said.

    Mekonnen described as encouraging the level of work so far done on the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and expressed optimism that the airport would be reopened on April 19.

    She, however, urged the contractor to maintain the high pace of work on the runway and ensure that the deadline was met.

    “We have not seen the runway yet but from the report we are getting we think the government will meet the deadline,” she said.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that the Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika had on March 30, disclosed that over 50 international flights had been operated from Kaduna airport with about 4,000 international passengers in three weeks.

    He added that about 73,000 domestic passengers had been airlifted with about 1,119 aircraft movements for domestic operations.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Ethiopian Airline is the only foreign airline operating from Kaduna, while two Nigerian airlines, Arik and Medview, also operate international flights from the airport.

    As at March 29, Arik had airlifted about 165 international passengers with 11 aircraft movements for both arrivals and departures.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that the Federal Government shut Abuja airport on March 8 for six weeks to carry out major repairs on its 3.6 km runway.

    According to the minister, the rehabilitation work has reached 75 per cent completion.

  • Arik Air laments incessant attacks by passengers on staff, property

    Arik Air on Thursday lamented incessant attacks by some aggrieved passengers on its staff and property at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

    The airline made this known in a statement signed by its Communications Manager, Mr Ola Adebanji and obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The statement said the airline staff and property were attacked by the passengers on Wednesday while its flight operations were disrupted again on Thursday.

    It said the issue started when the airline’s Lagos-New York flight was rescheduled from Wednesday to Thursday due to the shortage of aviation.

    “Our Lagos-Johannesburg service and Lagos- Accra service were also on ground awaiting fuel while the Lagos-New York service was standing by for fuel.

    “Aviation fuel supply has been epileptic in the country over the past weeks where availability of stock and terms of service are not guaranteed on a consistent basis by the marketers.

    “Arik Air pursued all possible options to source fuel for the international flights but when our Customer Service Manager approached the passengers to explain the situation to them, one of the passengers chased and attacked him. ”

    Adebanji said this is was followed by a mob of passengers who brutally beat, kicked and chased the Arik Air staff through the terminal building upto the Immigration Section of the terminal.

    He said the staff was later rushed to the hospital where he was treated for injuries sustained “during this reckless and inhuman attack”.

    According to the spokesperson Arik Air managed to source a small quantity of fuel and despite eventually sorting out the departure of the Johannesburg service, some of the passengers again on Thursday disrupted the airline’s check-in process.

    He said this led to the cancellation of some of the international flights, including the Lagos-London Heathrow-Lagos service.

    “Arik Air strongly condemns the incessant and increasing number of attacks on our staff and property in the recent months.

    “As a flag carrier for Nigeria, the airline expresses it disappointment and dismay that the Aviation Security Department (AVSEC) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and all the other security agencies in the country cannot ensure or guarantee the safety of our personnel when on duty across the various airports in the country.

    “This serious breach of security and lawlessness by some of the passengers to assault and cause bodily harm to the airline’s personnel cannot and will not continue to be tolerated.

    “Passengers continue to take the laws into their hands and the severity and frequencies of such criminal acts are on the rise due to lack of appropriate action or preventative measures from the security agencies.

    “The resort to verbal or physical violence in any form by a passenger is not acceptable to Arik Air and the airline would henceforth deploy all measures necessary against any passenger who takes the law into his hands.”

    It said the airline would also pursue legal action and engage local and foreign security agencies to investigate, identify and prosecute, to the full extent of the law, all of those passengers in Nigeria and overseas, involved in the attacks.

    Adebanji said the airline also intended to formally address the regulators, security agencies and aviation authorities both in Nigeria and overseas to get an immediate resolution to this matter.

    “Security at our airports ought to be improved to guard against unwarranted and uncalled for assaults on airline personnel and passengers.

    ” Despite repeated appeals and calls for intervention on numerous occasions, the airport authorities and security agencies have done nothing to protect the lives of staff and property of Arik Air in the wake of these attacks.

    ” The same authorities are however spontaneous in sanctioning the airlines whenever there is a service disruption without providing adequate support or security to prevent passengers from disrupting the service in the first instance.”