Chinedu Eze

Some domestic airlines have continued flight operations despite the strike embarked by the workers of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), which is the agency that provides weather reports to airlines.

Domestic airlines including Ibom Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Aero Contractors, Arik Air have continued to operate but on Thursday, Air Peace announced that it would suspend flight service due to the strike by NIMET.

However, THISDAY gathered that apart from domestic airlines, foreign airlines are also operating into Nigeria, as indicated by flight radar, which captures all aircraft operating in the airspace globally) on Thursday morning.

Flight radar showed aircraft flying in Nigeria airspace, including flights en-route Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt, both domestic and aircraft operated by international carriers.

United Nigeria Airlines on Wednesday announced that it was not shutting down operations and expressed its unwavering commitment to “ensuring the safety, comfort, and confidence of its passengers during this period of uncertainty.”

THISDAY spoke to an operator who is also a pilot and he said that weather report from NIMET is advisory; that airlines have other sources of information on weather conditions in the airspace, disclosing that he has weather station, which provides him all the needed information. He said that as a pilot, he refers to NIMET weather report for comparison.

He also noted that it was at the discretion of the pilot to decide whether to fly or not to fly in reception of weather report because the size of the aircraft, the ability of the aircraft determine whether a pilot should fly in any weather condition.

“A pilot may decide to request for special VFR (Visual Flight Rule) if he feels that he can fly despite inclement weather report. That is why the weather report from NIMET is advisory,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, told THISDAY that the airline was operating, noting that international airlines were also coming to Nigeria and landing, so also are domestic airlines, adding that no pilot can take-off without getting the basic information to ensure that there is no hazard in the fight.

“International airlines are coming and we are operating. We have en-route radar and we know what the weather is en-route. Every pilot must have that. So, what we need is destination weather but we can also get that from PIREP (Pilot Report). Pilots are trained to read weather; to know wind direction and speed and ground temperature. So, we are flying and international airlines are also coming,” he said.

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