Nigeria airline sorry for 'wrong' airport landing

A Nigerian airline has apologised for a "misunderstanding" after passengers were told they had arrived at their destination, Abuja, when they had in fact landed more than 450km (280 miles) away in another city, Asaba.

United Nigeria Airlines said the Sunday flight from the main city, Lagos, to the federal capital, Abuja, had temporarily been diverted to Asaba in Delta state, due to bad weather.

It said the wrong announcement was made to passengers when the plane landed in Asaba, creating confusion.

“Upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we’ve arrived in Abuja only for us to realise we landed in Asaba,” a traveller had said on X, adding that “apparently, our pilot was given wrong flight plan from Lagos”.

But the airline said the aircraft pilot was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed.

“We sincerely apologise for the misunderstanding on our [flight]. We are currently taking steps to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” it said in a statement. 

It said the flight had eventually landed safely in Abuja.