Uganda Airlines has faced renewed criticism after leaving over one hundred passengers stranded at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. This marks the second major disruption by the carrier in less than a month, raising serious concerns about its operational reliability on the Nigerian route.
Passengers Left in the Dark for Days
The latest incident, occurring in early January 2026, saw passengers, including some who had traveled to Lagos from other Nigerian states, stuck at the airport for up to a week. Many affected travelers reported receiving no prior notification from the airline about the massive schedule changes. One female passenger, who journeyed from Onitsha in Anambra State and wished to remain anonymous, disclosed that her flight was pushed back by 48 hours.
She explained that a revised schedule indicated a new departure time of 2 a.m. on Friday. However, at the time reports were filed, it remained uncertain if the flight would actually operate. In a separate batch, passengers booked on a Thursday 6 p.m. flight from Lagos to Entebbe, Uganda, were shocked when the aircraft failed to depart as planned.
No Communication, Mounting Frustration
A common thread among passenger complaints was the complete lack of communication from Uganda Airlines. Another distressed female passenger highlighted the dilemma she faced. "I didn't receive any email from the airline informing me of the delay or cancellation of my flight," she stated. "The flight was originally scheduled for 6:00 pm on Thursday, but I was surprised when I got here and they told me the flight had been cancelled or delayed."
She was instructed to return home and come back to the airport at 2:00 a.m. the following day, a significant inconvenience that was compounded by the absence of official notice. Efforts by journalists to get an official statement from the airline proved futile, as calls to its Country Manager in Nigeria went unanswered.
A Recurring Problem for the Airline
This is not an isolated event for Uganda Airlines' operations in Nigeria. In mid-December 2025, the airline similarly stranded hundreds of passengers at the Lagos airport. That disruption was attributed to an incident involving one of its Airbus A330-800Neo aircraft upon landing. The resolution at that time required more than a week, with the airline eventually evacuating passengers using partner carriers like RwandAir and Kenya Airways.
Uganda Airlines currently operates flights to Lagos twice weekly, on Mondays and Thursdays, and also services the Abuja route. The repeated nature of these serious operational failures threatens to damage the carrier's reputation among Nigerian travelers who rely on its services for connectivity to East Africa and beyond. The situation underscores the critical need for better customer communication and contingency planning in the aviation sector.
