United Nigeria Airlines denies landing at wrong airport; suggests bad weather at destination, but …

On 26 November, a Fly2Sky Airbus A320 (registered LZ-FSA) operated United Nigeria Airlines domestic flight UN504 between Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. After an uneventful landing, the cabin crew made a welcome announcement for Abuja, but passengers quickly understood they landed in Asaba, a city 400 km South of Abuja. Much to the disbelief of the passengers on board.  

In a press statement, United Nigeria Airlines suggests that the crew was en route to Abuja but that the flight “temporarily diverted to Asaba due to poor weather at Abuja“. The airline added that the captain was briefed on the bad weather and that he was aware of the situation, making a diversion to Asaba. The cabin crew, however, made a “welcome in Abuja” announcement which created confusion among the passengers.

Shortly after the “diversion“, the flight headed to Abuja, which was confirmed by United Nigeria Airlines: “Meanwhile, the aircraft has landed safely in Abuja following improvement in destination weather.”

The official statement of the airline brings more confusion as clarity as – according to data, retrieved from Flightradar24 – the flight departed from the airport of Lagos, and took a direct routing towards Asaba. In normal operations, pilots fly up to the destination airport, enter holding patterns if the weather is adverse, perhaps attempt an approach (or two), and then make a decision to divert to a nearby airport.

A passenger on board seems to confirm the theory that the pilot was given the wrong flight plan from Lagos:

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is not taking this unexpected diversion lightly as it issued this press release:

“The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) have commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding United Nigeria flight NUA 0506 to Asaba and the confusion it has created in the public domain. However, preliminary steps have been taken pending conclusions of ongoing investigation. The Authority wishes to reassure the travelling public that it will leave no stone unturned as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry. Signed: Captain Musa Nuhu DGCA”

Additionally, the NCAA has declared the suspension of all wet-lease aircraft operations at United Nigeria Airlines. The airline primarily utilises wet-leased aircraft, where both planes and crews are provided by other airlines, and these flights are currently halted.

This suspension is reportedly linked to the regulatory body’s dissatisfaction with the airline’s explanation that the diversion was weather-related. There is no supporting evidence indicating weather as the cause of the diversion, especially considering that other airlines successfully landed in Abuja without encountering any issues.

Update 30/11/2023

A spokesperson of Bulgarian Fly2Sky, the damp lease operator of the United Nigeria Airlines flight, confirmed to Aviation24.be that they received a flight plan for Lagos to Asaba and thus safely operated to that destination and not to Abuja.