Arik Airline has given details of the circumstances which  made it to divert its flight heading to Port Harcourt to Benin.

According to Olabanji Ola,PR & Communications Manager,Arik Air’s Boeing 737-700 (5N MJF) aircraft operating flight W3 740 from Lagos to Port Harcourt today, February 11, 2026, diverted to Benin Airport after the operating crew heard a loud bang on the left engine.

The aircraft was on its decent to Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa when the incident happened and as a precautionary measure, the crew had to make a safe diversion to Benin.

There were no injuries to passengers and crew as all 80 passengers on board were safely disembarked.

Arrangements have been made to transport the affected passengers to their final destination.

“We sincerely apologise to the affected Port Harcourt passengers whose journey has been disrupted.”

The Airline stated that safety and wellbeing of passengers is always its priority.