Passengers stranded at Lagos airport as Arik Air cancels flight over aircraft’s technical fault

Several passengers were left stranded at the domestic terminal of Murtala Muhammed Airport on Tuesday as Arik Air cancelled its flight as a result of aircraft’s technical problem.

BusinessDay’s checks show that Arik Air’s scheduled 9 am Lagos-Abuja flight for Tuesday was cancelled because one of the airline’s aircraft developed technical issues.

While the airline sent messages on Monday to the affected passengers explaining that the flight had been cancelled but passengers said the text messages came in 24 hours before the scheduled flights and this would affect their travel plans and appointments.

When the passengers got to the airport expecting that the flight may be rescheduled to a convenient time, the airline’s station manager had informed them that the only time available for rescheduling was for 6:50 pm.

READ ALSO: How oil output decline, troubled deepwater operations drove Nigeria into recession

The angry passengers then demanded a refund of their money, adding that they had appointments they needed to meet before the time of its reschedule.

Some passengers who took to their Twitter handle to express their disappointments had described the airline has been insensitive to passengers’ plights.

One of the affected passengers with Twitter handle @Miss_AlaEbi stated on Twitter “This is very annoying, I sent a mail for rescheduling or refund, they replied that I should send my booking reference and preferred time in order for a reschedule. I have replied to them with the information, I hope they reschedule my flight oh @ArikAirlineNg @ArikAir.”

Another affected passenger with Twitter handle @Slynabena, stated “How can someone book flight for over a week (10days) and they cancel less than 24hours. The alternative flight is N95,000.

Another passenger who craved anonymity told BusinessDay that the rescheduling process for the passengers is being delayed as well because the airline’s systems are down.

However, Banji Ola, Arik Air Communication Manager told BusinessDay that the flight was cancelled because the airline had ‘Aircraft on Ground’. This implies that the aircraft had developed technical issues.

Ola said the passengers had been sent text messages earlier explaining the situation of things to them.