THE Nigerian Senate has summoned the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, over incessant flight delays and cancellations suffered by passengers in recent times.

It also summoned the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Chris Najomo, airline operators, and other relevant stakeholders.

At the Senate plenary on Wednesday, December 4, the upper chamber mandated its committee on aviation to investigate the involvement of airline operators in the issue.

The resolution followed a motion by Buhari Abdulfatai, an All Progressives Congress senator from Oyo State.

Abdulfatai said flight delays and cancellations were hurting Nigeria’s economy and eroding confidence in the sector.

The committee’s mandate is to investigate the matter, uncover the root cause, and propose a solution.

Latest data from the NCAA shows that passengers have been experiencing delays or abrupt cancellations of scheduled flights by airline operators in recent times.

According to reports, data obtained from the NCAA shows that 19,250 passengers were delayed for long hours during the first half of the year.

The half-year report of the NCAA indicated that many passengers faced severe challenges, including the loss of personal belongings at various Nigerian airports.

The NCAA data shows that 35,398 flight operations by 13 local carriers resulted in 16,945 flight delays and 696 flight cancellations within the period.

A breakdown of the report shows that Aero Contractor had 1,992 flight delays, Arik Air 1,378, Air Peace 5,350, and Azman 76.

Other carriers, including Overland Airways, Max Air, Ibom Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Green Africa Airways, ValueJet, and NG Eagles, also recorded flight delays.

Similarly, it revealed that Aero Contractors had 33 flight cancellations, Arik Air 32, Overland Airways 57, Air Peace 294, and Max Air 23.

There were also flight delays and cancellations along the international routes, the report added.