Passengers Groan As Conveyor Belt Breaks Down At Lagos Airport

Foreign passengers, on Sunday, experienced delays at the newly opened terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, as the terminal Conveyor Belt collapsed.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the collapse of the Conveyor belt led to chaos for passengers and other airport workers at the terminal.

The collapse of the new conveyor belts led to a crisis for some of the foreign travellers who arrived in the country on Sunday and were delayed in retrieving their checked-in luggages.

It was also learnt that the airside workers of the airport had a harrowing experience loading the bags of the passengers manually, thereby slowing down the process.

A source close to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), told our correspondent on Sunday that the management made frantic efforts to resolve the challenge, but was unable to rescue the situation as at 14:00 hours.

Our source alleged that the newly installed conveyor belts breaks down almost 30 minutes daily, especially during the peak period.

Early morning flights especially from the West Coast and Europe to the airport were affected by the disruption.

The source also told our correspondent that it was not the first time the terminal, which was fully opened for operations in September, would experience such a collapse in recent weeks.

One of the affected passengers who didn’t want his name in print said: “There’s a serious crisis here, please come to our rescue. The belt we are told to use is also epileptic. We need urgent attention on the situation of this belt, please.”

When contacted at 16:00, the director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Abdullahi Funtua, said the issue has been resolved.

“The issue has been resolved, it was a minor mechanical issue,” he told LEADERSHIP.