How herd of cattle invaded Akure Airport, stopping planes from landing

The federal government through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has apologised to Air Peace Airlines and its passengers after a herd of cattle strayed onto the runway of Akure Airport in Ondo state.

The incident, which occurred Saturday morning, prevented an Air Peace flight from Lagos from landing.

FAAN in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, said “Normalcy was restored quickly, as officers of the aviation security department quickly dispersed the cows from the runway and the aircraft was cleared for landing.

“The authority will like to assure travellers and the general public that efforts are already ongoing to close the gap that aided this incident”.

The Corporate Communications Manager of Air Peace, Mr Chris Iwarah, also confirmed the incident.

“Flight P4 7002 from Lagos had to delay landing into Akure Airport on Saturday when the pilot-in-command sighted cows on the runway at about 12.15pm”, Iwarah said in a separate statement.

“On being alerted by control tower, aviation security personnel of the FAAN (FAAN AVSEC) quickly intervened and cleared the runway.

“The flight was eventually cleared to land after about seven minutes. Our guests on board were all calm while the delay lasted.”

Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose has also reacted to the incident.