Stranded Arik Air Passengers
Several passengers, including children, have
been stranded at Kaduna International Airport
since Tuesday, following the failure of Arik Air to
airlift them as scheduled.
Some of the disappointed passengers made the
complaint to the Minister of State for Aviation,
Sen. Hadi Sirika , at the airport during the on-the-
spot assessment of the facilities on ground.
They lamented that they had been parading the
airport since on Tuesday just to board Arik air
from Kaduna to Lagos to no avail without any
explanation or apology from the airline officials.
They described the attitude of the operators of
the airline as nonchalant because there was no
any notification by any means.
They added that it was until after the passengers
approached the minister to complain that one of
the official told them to come back on Saturday.
The airline was said to have been canceling its
flight without considering the distance they
traveled from or the implication of such on their
businesses.
One of the passengers who gave her name as
Mrs Nkenna with her three kids said that she and
her family were supposed to have traveled to
Lagos on Tuesday.
She said the airline had been cancelling flight
without prior notification, adding that it has been
the same experience in the last four days.
“I and my family, including our children are
stranded at Kaduna Airport (because of Arik Air’s
delay). I don’t know what to do because the
airline did not give us any prior notice to the
cancellation of the flight; no SMS, no email. We
have been coming to the airport everyday since
on Tuesday hoping to to board only for an official
of the airline to tell us on Friday that we will
board on Saturday,” she said.
Another affected passenger, Janet Oyedele ,
expressed her frustration with the airline, saying
she was not aware of the cancellation of the
flight until she got to the airport.
“One of the staff working at the airline’s counter
assured us that the flight was rescheduled for
Saturday but was not sure of the possibility of
the flight. Arik Air seems to be a disgrace to this
country and unfortunately for them, they are not
the only carrier flying, why are other airlines not
affected? The reason is Arik air has been messing
up with passengers and getting away with it over
time,” she said.
Reacting to the four-day cancellation of flight,
Arik Air Communications Manager, Ola Adebanji ,
said it was due to fuel scarcity and bad weather.
According to Adebanji, there is fuel scarcity earlier
in the week coupled with bad weather. So, it is
not deliberate but if the weather is okay to fly
today, they will go.
On whether there would be any form of
compensation for the passengers, he said he was
not aware of that.
