German airline, Lufthansa, on Wednesday offloaded 45 passengers and the luggage of about 200 fully booked travellers from its Abuja-Frankfurt flight due to runway safety concerns at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The decision was taken after a large hole developed at one end of the airport’s 3,610-meter runway. Authorities from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) subsequently cordoned off that section, drastically reducing the available runway length for departing aircraft.
As a result, Lufthansa’s Airbus A330-300, a wide-body jet that typically requires a longer takeoff roll due to its size and weight, was unable to accelerate safely using the shortened stretch of runway.
To ensure a safe takeoff, the aircraft’s pilot had to offload excess weight by removing both passengers and baggage, allowing the plane to lift off within the limited available distance.
Speaking to THISDAY, Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, a veteran pilot, confirmed that when a runway is shortened or not long enough, an aircraft must reduce its weight to generate sufficient thrust and achieve lift-off within the limited distance.
“In order to overcome the challenge posed by the reduced length of the runway, the aircraft had to find an effective way to take off from the usable length; so, you reduce the weight,” Sanusi was quoted as saying by THISDAY.
One of the affected passengers, who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity, revealed that the 45 offloaded travellers were taken to the Abuja Continental Hotel by Lufthansa at around 4:00 a.m. the following morning. According to him, his rescheduled flight to Germany was now set for Sunday, July 27, 2025—four days after his original departure date.
He described chaotic scenes during the boarding process, as anxious passengers scrambled to secure seats. Although the airline reportedly called passengers in groups, it ultimately skipped over one group, later informing them that they would not be flying.
