Nigeria's biggest airline Arik Air on Thursday grounded domestic flights over a dispute with an airport union, further complicating the country's troubled airline sector, officials said.

"We are sorry to advise our passengers that all domestic flights by Arik Air are cancelled for today," the airline said on its website.

It added that the grounding was "due to an action by the (Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) union at the general aviation terminal" in the economic capital Lagos.

Nigerian domestic air travel had already been complicated following Air Nigeria's decision to suspend operations earlier this month.

Dana Air has not yet resumed flights two weeks after Nigeria lifted a suspension slapped on the commercial carrier when one of its planes crashed in Lagos in June, killing at least 159 people in one of the country's worst air disasters.

Nigerian domestic airlines also include Aero and IRS.