Baggage Chaos at New Terminal in Lagos Exposes Weak Aviation Infrastructure

The operational integrity of the new international terminal at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) was called into question this week, as a major technical failure in the baggage conveyor system plunged the facility into chaos.

Stranded passengers were forced to navigate a ‘bottleneck’ at the arrivals hall after the primary carousel broke down, leading to scenes of travellers physically scrambling over the stationary carousel to retrieve their checked-in luggage amidst rising concerns over missing luggage.

The disruption, captured in a viral video circulating online also showed aggrieved passengers voicing their frustration over the lack of immediate management intervention.

“This incident again serves as a reminder that modern terminals, regardless of their architectural pedigree, remain vulnerable to systemic collapse without a robust, real-time response framework from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),” Tayo, an aggrieved passenger told Reporters.

A baggage carousel is a rotating conveyor system in airport arrival halls that delivers checked luggage to passengers. These systems operate at speeds between 15 and 30 meters per minute.

Pecohub’s findings show that airlines had sent messages calling FAAN to address the issue as passenger waited long hours to access their luggage.

Tayo said waiting time at the baggage claim area for most passengers was over two hours because of the crowd and the difficulty passengers went through to identify their luggage.

“I returned through the same airport last Thursday 12th of March. The e-gates for passport control & immigration were excellent, first-world class. I was pleased.

“However, as soon as I got past this, it was ‘bedlam’, a ‘mad house’! I was ashamed of what Nigeria was displaying.

I compared it with what I had experienced in Accra, Nairobi, Casablanca or Johannesburg. “It was awful, a disgrace,” Grace, another aggrieved passenger, told Reporters.

A source at FAAN who confirmed the incident to Reporters said: “It wasn’t broken down, it was just electricity that went down.”

According to the source, an armoured cable broke while some digging was being done on the airport grounds as the rehabilitation project geared up.

He, however, said the issue has been resolved, and the carousels are now in good working condition.