Due to an inconsistent energy supply at Banjul International Airport in The Gambia, two international aircraft operated by Brussels Airlines and Asky Airlines were rerouted to Dakar, Senegal, on Saturday.
Nfansu Bojang, the director general of the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), blamed the event on power outages brought on the NAWEC, the country’s energy provider.
There was no stabilisation of NAWEC. They would turn off three minutes after we turned to them. We’ve gone back to using our system. We chose to temporarily isolate NAWEC as a result of that back and forth, and Air Brussels was scheduled to land. They cancelled their approach and proceeded to Dakar after learning about it while in the air. I talked to the MD of NAWEC. The reason for this is that they were off all day. Additionally, it was tripping the queue to the airport when they arrived dragging’, Bojang clarified.
The GCAA DG went on to explain that NAWEC’s planned maintenance was the cause of the power outage.
Due to planned maintenance, NAWEC has been without power since 8:15 a.m. Since then, we have been using our generators. They weren’t stabilised for a while when they first came on. Both Asky Airlines and Brussels Airlines landed in Senegal as a result, but approximately 35 minutes ago, NAWEC informed us that they were stable. We are completely powered and the airport is currently on NAWEC. However, before we call the airlines that landed in Dakar, we want to wait a little while. However, he expressed hope that they would arrive within the next half hour.
