Arik Air’s New York bound passengers stranded at Lagos airport

Arik Air New York-bound passengers numbering over 250 were Sunday night stranded for 12 hours at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

Daily Independent learnt that Arik Air flight W3 107 that  was scheduled to depart the international wing of Lagos airport at 11.20 pm on Sunday were still on ground at the airport at 8.30 am on Monday, when our correspondent visited the departure hall of the terminal.

Lamenting his ordeal, Mr Felix Chukwuemeka, said,  officials of the airline could not be seen to address them, as they were all abandoned at the airport to their fate, adding that his stomach was aching as he has not eaten.

“I will lose my job if I get to USA late. My stomach is aching because I have not eaten. They have kept us in the cold here and this is inhuman,’’ he lamented.

According to one of the stranded passengers, Mr Clifford Erondu, the passengers have been stranded 11.20 pm Sunday night.

He explained that they were given boarding passes by the airline, but  despite that, they could not board the aircraft ,adding that to make matters worse officials of the airline were not around to address the issue.

Those that finally came could not address the issue, as they only said that the delay was due to the non availability of JET A1, also known as aviation fuel, a situation that made the passengers made up of children, elderly  men and women, to rely on God for solution.

However, Daily Independent learnt that the Arik Air official only brought the issue of aviation fuel on Monday morning.

According to Erondu: “They checked us in, but nobody came out to tell us anything till now. An Arik official later came up this morning to tell us that the aircraft that supposed to take us has no aviation fuel. The official said that the cost of buying the fuel is very high and that the airline cannot afford it. That the airline had earlier been sanctioned by the regulatory body for price regulation and customers’ service dissatisfaction”.

Another affected passenger, Miss Jemilah Awokoya, alleged that the Arik Air officials said that they pay extra fee of $800 about N129, 000 each to secure them an open ticket.

She further explained that the airline’s official said that the open ticket would be used in future if they cannot travel to New York now.

She added that they took their complaints to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA’s) office at the international wing, but that the office was locked and there was no official of the regulatory body in and around the office.

As at the time of compiling this report, the General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA Mr Fan Ndubuoke and the Image Maker of Arik Air were yet to respond to the text messages sent to them on the issue.

- Source:  http://dailyindependentnig.com