Abdullateef Aliyu
Controversy has continued to trail the decision of a German carrier Lufthansa to offload 45 Nigerian passengers and all checked in luggage of passengers during a flight on July 23, 2025.
This is just as officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, have faulted the claim by the Airline that it offloaded the passengers in order to take off on the runway, which was reduced because of ongoing work at the time.
It was learnt that the 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.
The reason was attributed to ongoing maintenance on 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.
But Abuja airport officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that 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.
They suggested that the airline might have taken a technical decision because it overbooked the flight and had excess luggage or the cockpit crew conversant with the runway condition at the time was changed, as Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued to that effect.
The NOTAM was issued to inform operators of any occurrence that might affect operations of the airlines or the airport.
Findings showed that that on the same July 23, British Airways operated Boeing B777 at 0816HRS with 245 passengers and 23 crew; Qatar Airways operated Boeing B787 with 251 passengers and 12 crew;
Also, 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.
In addition, Turkish Airlines operated Airbus A330 at 2145HRS with 261 passengers and 10 crew; Air Cote D’ivoire operated Airbus A319 at 1047HRS with 84 passengers and 7 crew; Royal Air Maroc operated Boeing B737 – 0718HRS with 162 passengers and 6 crew and Air France operated Airbus A330 at 2152HRS with 215 passengers and 10 crew.
FAAN completed maintenance work on the runway and operations returned to normal since July 25, 2025.
But Lufthansa Airlines clarified that safety considerations led to the offloading of passengers and luggage from its Abuja-Frankfurt flight on Wednesday, July 23.
The airline said it had to reduce the aircraft’s weight due to rainfall and tailwinds on departure, which could have affected safe takeoff performance.
In a letter to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Lufthansa acknowledged that it was aware of ongoing repair works at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, through a prior Notice to Airmen (NOTAM).
It said the decision to lighten the aircraft was a precautionary measure, not a result of unawareness or miscommunication regarding the state of the runway.
The airline’s clarification aligns with FAAN’s earlier position that all airlines operating at the airport were duly notified of the temporary runway adjustments.
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