Travellers hoping to celebrate the Easter holidays with family and friends were on Saturday stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja , following an astronomical increase in apron pass charges slammed on the Aviation fuel marketers by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN.
The fuel marketers were protesting what they considered to be an unfair increase in the apron pass charges from N!50 to N500, and their restriction to fuel aircraft on arrival and departure, thus leading to flight delays and in some extreme cases outright flight cancellations.
This development has caused congestion at the airport with so many aircraft waiting to be refueled before they can take off.
According to reports by the Guardian, the Acting General Manager, of Public Affairs, Mrs. Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, said the apron pass expired since May last year, and they were given till the end of March to pay up. The authority claimed that they need the money owed them, which are huge, to rebuild their facilities which are fast breaking down.
Some passengers have been forced to jettison the air travel and opted instead for road. Others had to call off the trip entirely thereby spoiling their plans of spending quality time this holiday with their loved ones.
Mr. Festus Abbah, an air traveller said he was so frustrated he had to cancel his plans completely.
No one is certain when this crisis will come to an end. Those who have already travelled are already making alternative plans in case the standoff still persist