By Babalola Yusuf

Three years after a Dana aircraft, marked 5N-RAM crashed into a two storey building at Ishaga, outskirts of Lagos, killing all 153 passengers and 10 on ground victims, airline passengers in the country are yet to repose faith in the airline, Nigerian NewsDirect investigation had shown.
Passengers fear was also heightened by the near air mishap caused by massive fuel leakage from the fuel compartment of a Lagos bound Dana Air aircraft which took off at about 3.10pm from the Ibom Airport in Uyo but was forced to make an emergency landing at the Port Harcourt Airport.
After Landing, pilots and crew detected a massive fuel leakage from the fuel compartment which was feared could result in an air accident on Tuesday.
But, a visit to Murtala Muhammed Airport terminal two (MMA2) last week Wednesday  by our correspondent showed few passengers present at the ticket stand of Dana airline while seats are vacant in the aircraft.
An inquiry from the ticket stand for an Abuja bound flight of 1:23pm still had series of empty seat as at 12: 45pm when our correspondent visited the MMA2.
According to the ticketer who pleaded anonymity, the Abuja bound aircraft with less than 30mins to fly sells for N17,100 while a ticket for a seat in Aero which have about two hours to fly sells for N19,500 with limited seats available.
However, the Managing Director, Chivid travel and tours, Hajji Nurudeen have confirmed to Nigerian NewsDirect that passengers boycott Dana Air.
Nurudeen said most of the few passengers that fly Dana Air are being recommended by travel agents.
He confirmed that regular travelers’ boycott Dana air because of safety and would rather prefer Arik Air because of its 100 percent safety records.
He said, “The few passengers they have are the one we travel agency recommend. For instance, passengers who fly regularly will never fly Dana but only first timers fly them because they know less about the aviation industry and they trust our judgment.”
But, the head, Corporate Corporation, Dana Airline, Samuel Ogbogoro dismissed passenger lull saying the airline was doing beyond average.
"It's all wrong for anyone to say our passenger rate fall. I can tell you that we are doing far beyond average."
Speaking on the massive fuel leakages, Ogbogoro said it was not true saying if there was massive leakage, it would have been grounded by Nigeria Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA).
"It was the same aircraft that bring passengers back to Lagos," he said.
Recall that 2015 Domestic Aviation Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey Report conducted by Philip consulting firm stated recently that larger percentage of passengers prefer other airlines to Dana Air because ofits poor safety records and fear of being caught in the web of an aircrash
‎Since the air crash, the airline had not wriggle itself out of the crash as passengers are still pessimistic about the airline doubting their safety procedures.
And, as the industry grow with passenger traffic for inbound and outbound destinations peaked at over 15 million, Dana Air have failedto benefit from the boom as only ten percent of the total passengers prefer Dana air and about 90% expressing fear over safety of theirfleet .
According to the survey, 10% prefer Dana Airlines, while a more significant number of 52% travelers chose it as their least preferred airline citing safety as the reason for boycotting the airline.
The large disparity in these figures should be a major source ofconcern for the carrier.  These findings are further decomposed byattribute for each of the respective airlines, in order to isolate thedrivers of the dissatisfaction ratings
The report says, “52% said they least preferred Dana airline because
if their low safety standard /practice. Over half of respondents (52%) who chose Dana as their least preferred airline are wary of the airline’s perceived and/or experienced low safety standards.
This is most likely driven by the incident of June 2012, in which Dana Air Flight 992 crashed in Lagos, killing all 152 passengers on board and 10 on the ground. The crash was one of the deadliest recorded in Nigeria, and resulted in the suspension of Dana Air's operating license for several months.  Aero Contractors Aero received the highest dissatisfaction rating for delayed flights (34%). The airline was also noted for its poor quality of service (25%) and poor communication of flight information (19%).
Additionally, despite the fact that the Dana Air crash of 2012 tookplace over three years ago, and the airline’s subsequent commitment to “adhere to globally recognised safety standards and consistently review its products and services to offer better solutions aimed atpassengers’ comfort and safety,” many are unwilling to overlook the
incident. These results reveal that in addition to pricing, safety is
one of the most important factors that determine the choice of
airlines for many Nigerian air travelers.
However, travel agencies have confirmed passengers’ aparty to Dana
Air, saying passengers would rather prefer an airline with 100 percent
safety records and expensive air tickets to a DANA airline with poor
safety records.