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LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Vaccines to help curb an escalating mpox outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries may still not reach the central African country for months even as the World Health Organization considers following Africa’s top public health agency in declaring the outbreak an emergency.

On Tuesday, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared a public health emergency of continental concern for the first time ever, and on Wednesday, a WHO-led panel meets to decide if it represents a global threat.

But while experts hoped the meetings would galvanise action worldwide, many obstacles remain, including limited vaccine supply, funding and competing disease outbreaks.

“It is important to declare an emergency because the disease is spreading,” said Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, head of Congo’s Institut National pour la Recherche Biomedicale (INRB). He said he hoped any declaration would help provide more funding for surveillance as well as supporting access to vaccines in Congo.

But he acknowledged the road ahead was not easy in a huge country where health facilities and humanitarian funds are already stretched by conflict and outbreaks of diseases like measles and cholera.

“If the big declarations remain just words, it won’t make any material difference,” said Emmanuel Nakoune, an mpox expert at the Institut Pasteur de Bangui in Central African Republic.

Africa CDC said last week it had been granted $10.4 million in emergency funding from the Africa Union for its mpox response, and its director general Jean Kaseya said on Tuesday there was a clear plan to secure 3 million doses of vaccine this year, without elaborating further.

However, sources involved in planning a vaccination roll-out in Congo said only 65,000 doses were likely to be available in the short-term, and campaigns were unlikely to begin before October at the earliest.

There have been more than 15,000 suspected cases of mpox in Africa this year and 461 deaths, mainly among children in Congo, according to Africa CDC. The viral infection is usually mild but can kill, and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.

A new offshoot of the virus has caused outbreaks in refugee camps in the east of Congo this year, and spread to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya for the first time.

Ivory Coast and South Africa are also experiencing outbreaks linked to a different strain of the virus, which spread globally in 2022, largely among men who have sex with men. This outbreak prompted WHO to declare a global emergency before ending it 10 months later.

Then, two vaccines were used – Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos, and LC16, made by KM Biologics. Outside clinical trials, neither has ever been available in Congo or across Africa, where the disease has been endemic for decades. Only LC16 is approved for use in children.

Congo’s regulators approved the use of the vaccines domestically in June, but the government is yet to officially request any from either the manufacturers or governments like the United States looking to make donations through the global vaccine group, Gavi.

(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Giles Elgood)

By Olasunkanmi Akinlotan

Delta Airlines has announced its intention to install free and fast Wi-Fi on its nearly 700 fleets for the use of passengers.

Delta described it as a dream come true, noting that its customers would have access to the internet connection before the end of summer.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Senior Vice President of Customer Experience Design, Ranjan Goswami, on Monday.

According to Goswami, the international Wi-Fi portal will not require a SkyMiles log-in to start, but later this year, all of the airline’s Viasat Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft will convert to the Delta Sync Wi-Fi experience, which connects to travellers’ SkyMiles memberships.

Airlines are beginning to look inwardly for aircraft maintenance as Nigeria’s foreign exchange scarcity makes overseas repairs nearly impossible.

“Since the unification of the foreign exchange, we have seen more airlines use our facility to carry out C-checks on their aircraft. Before the unification of exchange rates, airline operators were not coming to us because they used to get dollars from the Central Bank of Nigeria through the FX windows,” said Ado Sanusi, managing director/CEO, Aero Contractors of Nigeria Limited, and Aero MRO, one of the biggest maintenance facilities in Nigeria.

Sanusi told BusinessDay that the company has had its maintenance hangars full and has been forced to use Air Force hangars to accommodate aircraft awaiting maintenance.

Before the unification of the exchange rate, airlines had leveraged FX windows provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to source dollars at favourable rates to carry out their maintenance and run other expenses.

But with the unification of the exchange rate, the advantages that come with the windows have been eroded, forcing airlines to patronise local Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities.

Some of the local maintenance facilities include: 7 Star Global Hangar Limited, ExecuJet Aviation Group AG, Sky Jet Aviation Services, Aero MRO, Arik Air Limited, and JetMS (Avia Solutions Group).

Airlines had argued that local facilities lacked capacity to do comprehensive heavy maintenance (C-checks and D-checks) for all commercial aircraft in Nigeria.

But with the scarcity of foreign exchange and shortage of fleet across the country, the situation has changed.

“C-checks are classified into 1C, 2C, 4C and 6C. When you open up the aircraft, you could see corrosion or cracks in the airplane. Airplanes are like balloons, and when you inflate them, you get to see more than you budgeted for.

“What we do when airplanes are brought to us is that we give operators a price for routine checks. But when we open the aircraft and find corrosion or more cracks, it could cost the airline more than they budgeted for routine checks,” the Aero MD explained.

According to him, the cost for routine 1 C-check on Boeing 737 is between $180,000 to $250, 000. A 2 C-check on the same aircraft could cost between $250, 000 to $300, 000, while a 4 C-checks cost between $500,000 to $600,000.

He further explained that non-routine aircraft maintenance can cost as high as $1 million, noting that these costs are manpower rates and not rates for spare parts.

“In Nigeria, the manpower rates are lower. For airlines to carry out checks outside the country, they have to pay for fuel to ferry the aircraft, navigational charges, crew and accommodation for representatives in the country.

“We have the capacity and the certification to carry out checks on Boeing 737s, Dash 8, Q400 and Bombardier,” Sanusi noted.

Data obtained by BusinessDay from Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) shows that 13 domestic airlines operate a total of 91 aircraft. This data includes aircraft that have gone on maintenance.

A breakdown of the aircraft types include: 34 Boeing 737s, one Dash 8 -300, five Embraer 195, eight Embraer 145, one Dornier 328, three Boeing 777, four Bombardier Q400, one Airbus A340, four MDs 82 & 83, three ATR 72, five CRJ 900, one Airbus A220 and two Boeing 747 aircraft types.

When the naira-dollar exchange rate was N400/$, airlines paid between N200 million and N400 million to carry out routine C-check on a Boeing 737. But with the current exchange rate of over N1500/$, airlines have to pay between N794 million to N1.5bn to carry out C-check on a single aircraft.

“As I speak to you, we are overwhelmed. Right now, we have four aircraft on the jack, which is the space the two hangars can take. We have several other aircraft on queue awaiting maintenance. We are even using a third hanger belonging to someone else in Abuja to do heavy maintenance right now in Abuja as approved by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA,” Isaac Balami, founder and chief executive officer of 7 Star Global Hangar, a major maintenance facility in Nigeria, told BusinessDay.

“It is a $1 billion industry. Every year, what maintenance facilities spend to fix aircraft from Nigeria overseas is over $1 billion. These are aircraft from the presidential air fleet, the police air wing, private jet operators and commercial airlines.

“Aside USA and China, the third country in the world with the highest number of private jet owners is Nigeria. So, there are so many opportunities. We are currently struggling to see how we can meet up. We have secured land from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). We have finished the design and our partners from Europe will be coming to build the hangar for us,” the 7 Stars Global Hangar boss said.

According to him, the hangar will take about 8 Boeing 737s, noting that even if other local MROs build the same capacity as his company, the industry will not be able to meet up to 50 percent of the demand.

Balami hinted that to move to the UK, Europe, Ethiopia, Dubai, America, Asia, an operator can spend as much as $65,000 to $100,000 on fuel on one airplane, apart from navigational charges, landing charges, transport, visa fees for the crew, and cost of hotels for two to three months.

He said if aircraft maintenance is done locally, about $1 billion dollars will go into the pockets of Nigerians.

Sheri Ayuba Kyari, an aircraft engineer and former president of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), told BusinessDay that he has also seen a surge in aircraft maintenance locally.

Kyari said C-checks are done in Nigeria for some planes which come with low manpower rates.

He said before now, airlines preferred to go outside the country for maintenance because they used the opportunity to source for dollars at very low rates from the CBN.

But with the unification of dollars, he said, an inhouse maintenance facility has been able to carry out two C-checks on Dana Air’s MD aircraft and it is currently handling Azman B737.

“The 7 Star and Aero MRO are in the country and their rates are not the same. The factors that will culminate into the total cost of maintenance are not going to be the same. Some may use more funds and hands to get the aircraft out in a shorter time. Another may use minimal hands and maximum time,” he said.

Ibrahim Mshelia, a captain and owner of West Link Airlines Nigeria and Mish Aviation Flying School, said despite the local maintenance firms available, the shortage of MROs in the country is still a real concern.

“Every hour you fly, there is a maintenance cost required. Keep it somewhere, don’t spend it. I did it. When the maintenance is due, the money is there to pay for it.

“There was no time I took my airplane for maintenance and not pay to bring it back except something went wrong with the aircraft and I needed insurance to cover the costs,” he said.

The captain said airlines need to access dollars at rates that would help their day-to-day operations.

More indigenous companies are looking at investing in MRO seeing the opportunity in the untapped market.

For instance, Nigerian carrier, Ibom Air, is looking to establish itself as an MRO provider for the African continent, mirroring the likes of EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways.

More recently, Ibom Air is working with Airbus Consulting on its maintenance strategy for the next six to eight years, which includes plans for full scope A220 work.

There may be flight cancellations and delays in the coming days over plans by aviation unions to commence nationwide protests.

The protests are expected to affect airport operations nationwide, as workers demonstrate their frustration and call for the reversal of the policy.

In a united stance, employees of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) are set to stage peaceful protests at airports across Nigeria.

The protests, scheduled for Wednesday, August 21, 2024, are organised to demand an end to the 50 per cent deduction from the internally generated revenue of the agencies, a policy the workers argue undermines their operational efficiency and financial stability.

This was disclosed in a joint statement signed on Wednesday by  Ocheme Aba, General Secretary of NUATE; Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu, Secretary General of ANAP; Comrade Sikiru Waheed, General Secretary of AUPCTRE; Comrade Frances Akinjole, Deputy General Secretary of ATSSSAN; and Comrade Olayinka Abioye, General Secretary of NAAPE.

The protests are expected to affect airport operations nationwide, as workers demonstrate their frustration and call for the reversal of the policy.

Infrastructure, market access drive MSMEs to Lagos, Rivers, Kano
The statement reads, “All workers of the NCAA, FAAN, NAMA, NiMet, NCAT and NSIB, joined by the solidarity of all aviation workers are hereby directed to embark on peaceful protests at all airports nationwide on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, to demand the discontinuation of deduction of 50% from the internally generated revenue of the agencies mentioned above through exemption.

All efforts on our part have failed to impress it upon the Federal Government that all the Agencies are cost recovery and not profit-making organisations. As such they cannot survive on half of their incomes under any model of administration or any other guise whatsoever.”

The unions stated that information available to them indicates that some important safety-critical activities of the agencies are grinding to a halt under the burden of the deductions.

“It has, therefore, become incumbent on us as trade unions and workers in aviation to let the public and the government be aware that we shall bear no responsibility in the certain event that the industry becomes dysfunctional as a result of financial incapacity due to the deductions at source.

“All State Councils, Women Commissions/Committees, Youth Councils and Branches of our Unions nationwide are to fully mobilise for, and ensure full compliance and success of the peaceful protests,” the statement adds.

The court order prohibits Nigeria from moving or selling the presidential jets until Chinese firm Zhongshan receives the awarded $74.5 million.

A French court has authorised the seizure of three presidential jets linked to the Federal Government of Nigeria, sources familiar with the matter have told PREMIUM TIMES.

Two of the jets, part of the Nigerian presidential air fleet, were recently put up for sale, while the third, an Airbus 330, was purchased by Nigeria but not yet delivered.

The seizure of the presidential jets is a result of an application by Zhongshan, a Chinese company whose export processing zone management contract was revoked by the Ogun State government in 2016.

An independent arbitral tribunal chaired by the former President of the UK Supreme Court awarded Zhongshan about $74.5 million in compensation, but the Ogun State government, which has a dispute with Zhongshan, has yet to honour the award.

The Federal Government is facing this backlash over an action taken by one of its subnationals with which Zhongshan has a business dispute.

The seized presidential jets include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse airport in Switzerland. All are currently undergoing maintenance. The Nigerian government reportedly paid over $100 million for the Airbus.

The court order prohibits the movement, sale, or purchase of the jets until Zhongshan receives the awarded $74.5 million. Bailiffs have served papers for each aircraft.

The Nigerian government is yet to comment on this development.

The confiscation of the planes follows the recent seizure of Nigerian-owned buildings in Liverpool, England, by a UK court in relation to the same dispute with Zhongshan. The properties against which Zhongshan secured charging orders are located at 15 Aigburth Hall Road, Liverpool and Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road, Liverpool, estimated by the company to be worth between £1.3 and £1.7 million.

The Ogun State government and Zhongshan have been locked in a long-drawn battle over the management of an export processing zone in the South-west state.

On 29 June 2010, Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group Co Ltd, the parent company of Zhongshan, and the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ) entered into a framework agreement on the establishment of Fucheng Industrial Park within the zone. The agreement gave Zhuhan the right to develop and run Fucheng Park within the zone.

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority registered Zhongfu International Investment (NIG) FZE, a subsidiary of Zhongshan, as a free trade zone enterprise within the OGFZ in 2011. The Ogun State government later appointed Zhongfu as the interim manager/administrator of the zone.

But in July 2016, Zhongfu alleged that the Ogun State Government moved to terminate its appointment, and appoint another manager for the free trade zone.

Zhongfu then launched an investment treaty arbitration against Nigeria, citing the bilateral investment treaty between the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria.

On 26 March 2021, an arbitral tribunal issued a final award of $55,675,000 in addition to an interest of $9.4 million and costs of £2,864,445 payable by Nigeria to Zhongshan.

PREMIUM TIMES learned that afterwards, the federal government repeatedly pleaded with the Ogun State Government to amicably resolve its dispute with Zhongshan but still no settlement was reached.

The order by the Enforcement Judge at the Paris Judicial Court reads as follows. ========================================= Having regard to the foregoing application and the reasons, therefore, Having regard to the

documents annexed hereto,

Having regard to articles L. 111-1-1, L. 111-1-2,3°, L. 511-1 et seq., R. 111-1 and R. 511-1 et seq. of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures,

Enforcement Judge at the Paris Judicial Court,

Authorise ZHONGSHAN FUCHENG INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT CO. LTD, located at Tower 5, Shangfeng Financial Business Centre, No. 88, Zhongshan 4th Road, East District, Zhongshan City, People’s Republic of China To seize the aircraft Dassault Falcon 7X, registration number 5N-FGU (serial number 090), Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ, registration number 5N-FGT (serial number 34260/1746), and Airbus A330-243, registration number 5N-FGA (serial number 1053), belonging to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, stationed respectively at the airport of

Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports in the hands of any third party in the airport area of the said airport who holds it, as security for its claim of EUR 74,459,221.

Let us say that this protective seizure will take place to secure and preserve the claim arising from the arbitration award dated 26 March 2021, made by an ad hoc arbitral tribunal,

The bailiffs will be able to go to any place where the aircraft registered 5N-FGU, 5N-FGT and 5N-FGA are located and seize them;

The bailiffs will be able to include the type of aircraft and its registration number, as well as its main equipment and accessories, in the seizure report;

The bailiffs may be assisted by any person, request any equipment and take any measure necessary to implement the measure ordered, and in particular, request any employee and equipment of Paris-Le Bourget Airport and Basel-Mulhouse International Airport;

Let’s say that the aircraft, registered 5N-FGU, 5N-FGT and 5N-FGA, will be positioned so that the cockpit faces a wall or building or in any other way that prevents it from taking off again autonomously;

Once the aircraft have been seized, the bailiffs will appoint any third party of their choice as custodian of the aircraft registered 5N-FGU, 5N-FGT and 5N-FGA;

Let us say that the bailiffs will be able to use public force;

We hereby declare that this order may be set up against any third party holding the property subject to seizure;

Let’s just say that it will be referred to us in case of difficulty;

This order is enforceable on the basis of the minutes alone.

Date L($ JÇ in our chambers, at the seat of the Paris Judicial Court.

The enforcement judge

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By Paul Tugwell, Eamon Akil Farhat, and Patrick Sykes

(Bloomberg) -- Greece and Turkey are fighting to contain wildfires as temperatures soar to 42C (108F) and gale force winds in the Aegean Sea fan outbreaks.

There is a very high risk of fires in in Athens and the surrounding Attica region, plus Peloponnese and islands including Crete and Evia. While a huge blaze on the outskirts of the capital was extinguished earlier this week, firefighters are using aircraft to tackle fires near Loutraki in northern Greece and at Kryovrisi in the northwest.

Inhabitants of Panagia in central Greece have been told to evacuate as a forest fire threatens, while people in Palabas near the border with Albania have been warned to be prepared to leave as another blaze looms.

Greece and the Balkans have been seared by heat waves and forest fires this summer, as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The Greek government will hold a parliamentary debate next month on its handling of the latest wildfire season.

In Turkey, authorities evacuated at least one village in the western province of Izmir as they struggled to control forest fires that have been burning since Thursday evening, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing governor Suleyman Elban. Winds of up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour prevented aircraft from joining the firefighting efforts, centered on the Karsiyaka district.

Red alerts for high temperatures are in place for most of southern Italy and a large swath of the Balkans. The mercury is forecast to climb to 41C today in the Italian city of Foggia.

There are also warnings for thunderstorms along the French and Italian Riviera, plus the island of Corsica. Record rain triggered a danger alert on Thursday evening on the Spanish island of Menorca.

Rain will bring cooler conditions to central Europe, including parts of Germany, France and northern Italy, for a short spell early next week, according to Maxar Technologies Inc.

(Updates with evacuation in Greece in third paragraph)

By Erik Hertzberg, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s housing starts surprisingly rose to the highest level in more than a year.

Construction was started on an annualized 279,509 units in July, according to data released Friday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. That’s the highest level since June 2023, and exceeded the 245,000 units expected by economists.

Starts rose 15.7% from the previous month, and the increase was mostly in multi-unit buildings. Regionally, new construction was driven by the country’s largest province, Ontario, where starts rose 59%. Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan also ramped up construction.

The data add to evidence of construction momentum picking up as borrowing costs start to fall, and amid billions in new loans and tax breaks from the federal government. Still, starts remain below 2021 and 2022 levels.

Housing affordability has worsened markedly in recent years. The country’s chronic shortage of homes has been further aggravated by an influx of temporary residents that has driven population growth to one of the highest levels among developed countries.

Housing starts are expected to rise to average 264,000 annualized pace in 2025, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. At the end of last year, CMHC estimated Canada needs to build at least 3.5 million additional housing units by 2030 to restore affordability.

By Giovanna Bellotti Azevedo and Rachel Gamarski

(Bloomberg) -- Brazilian airlines, already struggling with high interest rates and volatile fuel costs, are being hit with more losses as currency woes and climate challenges test the sector’s operational resilience. 

Azul SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, two of the nation’s largest carriers, reported setbacks in the second quarter as a weakening Brazilian real and the closing of a key airport following torrential rains in country’s south dragged their earnings, quarterly reports showed this week. 

The real’s slide in particular — around 11% this year — has weighed on the carriers, which have grappled with rising fuel costs and high interest payments on their heavy debt loads. The weaker currency further raised fuel costs tied to the greenback and dollar-denominated lease payments last quarter. Catastrophic floods in May compounded the difficulties, paralyzing the state of Rio Grande do Sul’s main airport in Porto Alegre, which remains closed. 

“The exchange rate and operational disruptions in Porto Alegre affected the costs and flight supply of both Gol and Azul, leading to a negative impact on their operational performance in the quarter,” said Carolina Chimenti, an analyst at Moody’s Ratings.

Gol shares fell as much as 7.8% in Sao Paulo Thursday, the most since May, after the company reported a net loss of 3.91 billion reais ($713 million), reversing a profit seen in the same period of last year. The airline said the exchange rate variation made its gross debt swell by 2.7 billion reais, and cited the impact of a decline in passenger demand and capacity amid the closure of Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho airport.

In its earnings report, Gol estimated that the closing of Salgado Filho was responsible for revenue losses amounting to approximately 120 million reais. The Sao Paulo based-company, which struggled during the Covid pandemic, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January after a dozen attempts to restructure its debt.

The closing of Porto Alegre’s airport also severely hit Azul’s earnings, which estimated that the reduction in capacity impacted second quarter results by at least 200 million reais.

“Rio Grande do Sul is the fourth largest state in Brazil in terms of economic activity and represented over 10% of our total capacity,” the airline’s chief executive officer John Rodgerson, told analysts on a conference call on Monday. “The relevance to us is equivalent to the relevance of Los Angeles for a major US airline.”

Azul’s shares plunged 12% on Monday after it reported net losses of 3.87 billion reais ($706 million) for the second quarter and boosted its net debt forecast. Shares recovered some of the slump as Brazil stocks gained, though they’re still down for the week. The carrier’s bonds are the worst performing among emerging-market corporates this quarter, according to a Bloomberg gauge. 

Rodgerson cited the real’s weakness as well as higher fuel prices seen in the quarter. On Porto Alegre, he said the airport is expected to partially reopen on Oct. 21, and Azul has already opened sales at almost 80% of its capacity pre-floods. 

“Operationally, this was probably bottom, because there was the impact from Porto Alegre. But they also need to manage their liquidity,” Moody’s Chimenti said of Azul. While the company mentioned some cost-cutting initiatives, it still has “some homework to do,” she added. 

Azul was the only one among Brazil’s trio of dominating airlines — which also includes Gol and Latam Airlines Group SA — that didn’t file for bankruptcy protection after the Covid-19 pandemic upended the travel industry. Instead, the company was able to push out maturities through a bond swap offer in June 2023.

--With assistance from Leda Alvim.

NAIROBI, Aug 16 (Reuters) – The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) said on Friday that it had contingency measures in place to prevent a strike by the country’s main aviation union that is set to begin on Aug. 19 from disrupting airport operations.

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union, which represents workers at airports and the national carrier Kenya Airways, said it would launch industrial action from Monday over a proposed deal with India’s Adani Airports Holdings to develop the country’s biggest airport in the capital Nairobi.

The union has said it thinks the Adani deal will lead to job losses and bring in non-Kenyan workers, and referred to it in a strike notice as the “intended sale” of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Kenya’s government has said the airport is not for sale and that no decision had been made on whether to proceed with what it called a proposed public-private partnership to upgrade the East African travel hub.

“Discussions are ongoing between the Ministry of Roads and Transport, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, KAA Management and Kenya Aviation Workers Union to reach an amicable agreement,” the airports authority said in a statement.

(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning)

ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines said Friday it is reviewing how a man who allegedly followed a family around the terminal then boarded the family’s plane earlier this month without a ticket for the flight.

The incident happened at Washington Dulles International Airport.

“Delta has processes in place for gate agents and flight crews to verify that individuals onboard aircraft prior to departure are customers that are booked on that particular flight,” the airline said in a statement. “Delta is reviewing the matter in question internally and has been in touch with airport authorities in conjunction with this review.”

Lauren Benton told ABC News that she noticed a man who appeared to be following herself, her husband and their two young children inside the terminal, even into a women’s restroom. She said when they boarded the plane, the man followed and sat down in their row.

Benton said her husband confronted the man, and a flight attendant asked to see his boarding pass, which he was unable to produce.

The man was removed from the plane. According to the Transportation Security Administration, he had a valid ID and boarding pass for a later flight, explaining how he got past the checkpoint.

The Associated Press