Stakeholders have expressed concerns following a trending video of a Delta Airlines’ passenger aircraft from United States to Nigeria, which flew in with so many empty seats. A passenger onboard the Delta flight carrying passengers from John F. Kennedy International Airport, USA, made a short video showing very few passengers amid several empty seats on the flight.

The drop in passenger traffic on the destination is coming after the airline last year announced that from December, 2024 and continuing through February 2025, it will start daily nonstop flights on its New York JFK – Lagos route.

During this period, Delta transitioned from the Airbus A330-200, which accommodated 223 passengers, to the more spacious Airbus A330-900neo, capable of carrying 281 passengers.

Stakeholders have raised concerns over the recent drop in passenger traffic on the route, saying Donald Trump’s visa policy may have made travellers apprehensive over the possibility of not being able to return amid immigration scrutiny at the airport.

“The arbitrary visa denials without any reason could be the reason. I know of many who say they’d never go back to the US Embassy for a visa. Of course, Trumpism must be high on the list as well.

The visa ias been ongoing for over 1 year. Its toll is only manifesting now.

Also, all the tales of border turnbacks and harassment do also have their own chip ins,” a regular traveller had said. However BusinessDay had reported last week that airlines operating from Nigeria to Europe are beginning to slash their fares and offering business promotions to woo passengers.

A low travel season Is a period when there is a reduction in the number of people who are willing to travel. It occurs between February and May of every year.

Popular carrier British Airways recently offered its premium economy class ticket to London at $300 as against over $1000.

Generally, for several airlines, the price of a one-way economy class return ticket from Lagos to Europe has dropped by 15 percent to 25 percent from N2 million to N3 million by the summer of 2024. (BusinessDay)