A website, flynigeraiair.world, launched by Nigerian Air has raised fresh concerns about the entity which has been mired in controversies. The House of Representatives had on Monday described the entire process that led to the launch of the airline as fraudulent and demanded the prosecution of the officials involved in the transaction.
According to an independent search by David Hundeyin, an investigative reporter, the website was created and registered on 26 May 2023, three days before the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. It was registered for one year. Web4Africa, a company that hosts websites for organisations in Nigeria, was listed as the registrar of the domain name.
“What happened to a flyngair.ng or Nigeriaair.ng with a national identity? These people and their image laundering crew are a big disgrace,” tweeted Akin Olaoye, a political activist.
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BusinessDay visited the website built on WordPress and found it lacking much vital information. This may not come as a surprise given that the last time it was updated was the same it was registered. Experts say this could have been because it was hurriedly registered for the sole purpose of the presidential unveiling. The pages on Core Values, Mission, Vision, and Safety have no information. This is the same for the pages on Airport Transfer, Car Rental, Hotel Booking, Travel Insurance, and Vacation package.
An attempt to book a flight from Lagos-Abuja will redirect the user to two websites Bookings.com and aviasales.com where options such as Aerolineas Sosa, LAir Liason, and Arik Air are presented.
“I tried to book a flight on the website, but the dodgy website redirected me to book other national carriers. What a disgrace,” said Munachiso Nwariaku, a legal practitioner.
A customer service number +2349088388808 listed on the website is owned by Capt Dapo Olumide. BusinessDay placed a call to the number to make inquiries about flight booking and it was not picked up on a second ring. Instead, the owner sent an SMS requesting a text which was sent. The response after a ten-minute wait was a curt ‘No’. Further inquiry on when the service will be available did not get a response.
A check on the LinkedIn profile of Dapo Olumde, showed that he works with Nigeria Air as Accountable Manager/Chief Executive Officer starting from February 2022 to the present.
