JOHANNESBURG, February 8 (ANA) – South African Airways (SAA) and a number of other airlines have cancelled flights to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the Nigerian capital Abuja due to the dangers posed by the state of disrepair of the runway.
SAA cancelled flights for six weeks, as repairs on the runway began on Wednesday. This follows an incident last August when one of its planes was damaged after landing there.
According to the Nigerian authorities the damage to the runway is so extensive that repairs can’t be undertaken at night.
SAA joins British Airways, KLM and Air France in rejecting a Nigerian government proposal to divert flights to northern Kaduna city and take passengers by bus on a journey of about 250km (155 miles) to Abuja, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
The reason behind declining the offer, of the alternative and circuitous route, was that it included an extra three-and-a-half-hours of travel time on a road notorious for accidents and kidnappings.
Meanwhile, Nigerian students are up in arms after the University of Lagos in Nigeria’s commercial capital banned both male and female students from wearing tight-fitting clothes, including trousers, skirts and blouses, local newspapers reported.
They quoted a management circular as also banning “all clothes which reveal sensitive parts of the body such as the bust, chest, belly, upper arms and the buttocks”.
“Students should maintain a clean and well-cared for appearance in all settings on campus. The wearing of tight, strapless and revealing clothes with lengths above the knees is inappropriate.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
