Lufthansa’s Offload Of Passengers, Luggage Unrelated To Shorter Runway – Airport Official

An airport official at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, has put a lie to a report by Lufthansa Airlines that it offloaded 45 passengers and all passengers checked-in luggage on July 23, 2025, to take off on the runway, which was reduced because of ongoing work at the time.

Also, it was gathered that a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), even as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) also released a message informing all airlines of the issue and the planned repairs to the identified depressed section of the runway.

LEADERSHIP reports that Lufthansa Airlines last Wednesday offloaded 45 passengers and all the luggage of about 200 passengers fully booked for the Abuja-Frankfurt flight, to reduce the weight of the aircraft so that it could take off from a shorter length of the runway.

It was gathered that maintenance work was going on at the runway at the time, which forced the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to cordon off that part, thus limiting aircraft from exhausting the full length of the runway before taking off.

However, an Abuja airport official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he’s not authorised to speak, said other international airlines with wide-body aircraft similar to that of Lufthansa also took off and landed on the runway under that maintenance condition and did not offload their passengers or their luggage.

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It was gathered that on July 23, British Airways operated Boeing B777 at 0816hrs with 245 passengers and 23 crew members, while Qatar Airways operated Boeing B787 at 1403HRS with 251 passengers and 12 crew.

Also, Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing B777 LR aircraft at 1411HRS, 264 passengers and 14 crew while Egypt Air operated Boeing B737-800 at 1509HRS with 125 passengers and 7 crew.

Africa World Airlines operated Embraer E145 at 1305HRS with 40 passengers and 4 crew; Asky Airlines operated B737 at 1719HRS with 64 passengers and 9 crew and Turkish Airlines operated Airbus A330 at 2145HRS with 261 passengers and 10 crew.

Air Côte d’Ivoire operated Airbus A319 at 1047hrs with 84 passengers and 7 crew; Royal Air Maroc operated Boeing B737 at 0718hrs with 162 passengers and 6 crew, and Air France operated Airbus A330 at 2152hrs with 215 passengers and 10 crew.

“So, you can see that it was not only Lufthansa that flew on that date. Airlines that flew with wide-body aircraft include British Airways, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines and Air France. I have to recall that Lufthansa on July 4 cancelled their flight, and on July 25, they didn’t depart with all the passengers. Lufthansa departed at 0015hrs,” the inside source said.

Also, it has to be noted that the German airline did not issue any statement to indicate that it offloaded passengers and luggage because of the reduction of the runway distance but that was what it explained to the passengers, justifying why they should drop from the flight along with all passengers checked- in luggage to be airlifted four days later, on July 27, 2025.

However, FAAN completed maintenance work on the runway and operations returned to normal on July 25, 2025.

The message obtained by our correspondent was issued on Wednesday, 23rd July, announcing the runway closure and scheduled repairs, while advising airlines to review their flight schedules accordingly.

The message stated: “Good morning, all airline operators. Kindly note that RWY 04 will be closed from 10 pm tonight (24th July) to 4 am tomorrow (25th July) local time to carry out planned repairs on the depressed section of the pavement.

“Furthermore, all flight operations during this period are advised to be reviewed accordingly. Please be aware that operations have been constrained by the weather conditions and are guided by the forecast during this period.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused as we work to restore the runway to normalcy for safe operation.”

Additionally, it was found that FAAN had already circulated GPS coordinates of the depressed section on 21st July.

Travel Consultant, Botunde Dele, said it was not only Lufthansa Airlines that used the runway during the period.

“Blaming the airport authority in this case is ill-conceived. We need to ask a few questions. Why is it the only plane that complained, because we all know it is not the only aircraft that used the runway during the period?”

“Additionally, the statement attributed to the pilot claiming they were not informed of the depressed portion of the runway should be treated with caution. The pilot couldn’t have made that statement because any NOTAM issued anywhere goes across the whole world.

“So, for anyone to say, especially the pilot, I don’t think it is true, since Lufthansa Airlines itself hasn’t issued any statement to that effect. I know for sure that other international carriers with similar wide-body aircraft were landing and taking off from the same runway.”

An engineer from FAAN, who requested anonymity, disclosed that the depressed section had already been repaired and that normal flight operations have since resumed.

He said, “These are issues that happen everywhere. The section was depressed, and we took precautionary measures by first informing the airlines and then taking action to ensure that the entire length of the runway was fully functional. That has been done, and the full length is now operational as expected.”