Some passengers of Arik Air have been seen in viral videos lamenting how they were left stranded at the Port Harcourt airport without any alternative after their flight was cancelled.
The flight was reportedly scheduled to go from Port Harcourt in Rivers State to Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.
One of the frustrated passengers is heard narrating how he was asked to pay the sum of N2 million to rebook four tickets after the cancellation of the flight by Arik Air management.
He said the airline did not tender any apology or give any justification for the cancellation of the flight.
The passenger said, “You cancelled the flight yesterday by 11 pm and we are back here by 12:30 pm (today) and you are telling us that nothing will happen.
“You told us to come back today that we will enter a flight by 12:30 pm. You rebooked four tickets, N2 million. That is stupidity. No apology, nothing from them.”
The passenger added that the company told the affected passengers that it would take at least eight months before they could successfully get a refund.
“The refund, they say it will take eight months. You cancelled the flight by 11 in the night – no excuse. And you said we should come back by 12:30 and now they said we should wait till 7 pm again,” the passenger added.
This incident has resulted in a backlash from Nigerian netizens against the airline on X with #ArikAirFailures trending on the social media platform.
Some of the tweeps expressed their displeasure at how the company allegedly maltreats its passengers.
“Arik air made this man lose N2m, It’s so sad that consumers have no rights and there are no penalties for this kind of actions by airline operators.
“A flight scheduled for 6:30pm from port harcourt to Lagos was cancelled by 11pm without an apology. #ArikAirFailures,” Mubarak, an X user commented on the incident.
“It’s infuriating to hear about passengers like this man losing significant sums of money because of Arik Air’s incompetence. The airline industry needs stricter regulations to protect consumers from such injustices. #ArikAirFailures,” another user, Veronica said.
This comes a few days after the airline announced that it had been named as the ‘Best Sustainable Airline of the Year 2024’ by the World Quality Alliance and Quality Standards Journal.
A statement by Adebanji Ola, Arik Air’s Public Relations and Communications Manager, said that the award was presented to the airline at the National Quality Summit 2024 held in Abuja last Friday.
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