Over the weekend, a video surfaced that has gone viral on social media. In it, a supposed passenger on an Air Peace London flight to Gatwick Airport claims that the flight was delayed landing and was diverted to Manchester Airport instead of the intended airport, Gatwick.
In the said video, the passenger was heard saying that they were stranded at Manchester airport for almost 2 hours and were calling on the minister of aviation to intervene.
The passenger also claimed that the delay was as a result of delayed take-off from Nigeria due to some issues relating to the local leg of the flight.
However, a source familiar with operations within the global airline industry, but without the authority to speak on the issue officially, has debunked some of the issues raised and said that the delay experienced by Air Peace flight to London is a common problem in the aviation sector arising from weather-induced challenges
He noted that the local leg of the airline flight which brought passengers from Owerri and other regional destinations before onward boarding for the London flight was never delayed as implanted in the video rather they all arrived before 6 pm which is the checking time for the late night flight to London
Crisis24, an online platform that reports global crisis incidences, particularly airline disruptions, had on 18 October 2024 at around 12:40 pm UTC reported that UK Flight disruptions had occurred at London area airports.
It stated “flight disruptions are ongoing at London area airports as of the afternoon of Oct. 18 due to foggy weather conditions since the early morning. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and London Gatwick Airport (LGW) have been most impacted. Inbound and outbound flight delays at LGW average between one to two hours, whereas inbound flight delays at LHR average over one hour.
“Residual disruptions are possible at London airports even after weather conditions improve as airlines work to clear any passenger backlogs that have materialized.”
