The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) may not apply stiff sanction against Arik Air following the airline’s failure to meet the 24-hour ultimatum to return all delayed luggage of passengers from London to Lagos, Qed.ng has learnt.
NCAA Director, Consumer Complaints Department, Adamu Abdullahi, on Wednesday directed Arik to produce the luggage latest by Thursday morning and compensate each of the affected passengers with $150 for their troubles.
“A directive is a directive and we will hold Arik Air management responsible, and I can assure you that they will abide by the directive,” he said.
Contrary to assurances by NCAA and Arik, the luggage of most of the affected passengers did not arrive on Thursday morning, prompting those affected to launch another round of protest with a vow not to let the airline’s flight depart for London
President/Founder at Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON), Sola Salako, who has been campaigning on behalf of the passengers lamented on Thursday that “it looks like Arik Air is bigger than its regulator!”
An official of NCAA, however, told Qed.ng that they are careful not to apply the full weight of the law on Arik so as not to worsen the current crisis in the Nigerian aviation sector.
“This is not the only complaint we have against Arik Air from local and international passengers,” the officials said under the condition of anonymity.
“The truth is that Arik is one of the few local airlines operating in our recessed economy. It is the only Nigerian brand doing any serious business on international routes.
“If we wield the big hammer and ground its operations, then we would have killed a business that is trying to survive against all odds.”
Passengers flying from London to Lagos first raised alarm over delayed luggage on Friday, December 2.
NCAA and its sister regulator, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), initially treated the crisis as another routine complaints by passengers.
The agencies were however forced to act after passengers prevented Arik from operating its A330 aircraft going to London on Tuesday.
The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) on Wednesday also disclosed that it would summon Arik Chief Executive Officer, Michael Ikhide; Chief Operating Officer, Conor Prendergast, and Managing Director, Chris Ndulue, to appear before it.
“The said passengers, many of whom had connecting flights to Cameroon, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan could not continue their journeys as a result of the non-arrival of their luggage from London, while some passengers on the said flights could not have access to personal supplies, baby food or medication,” the CPC said in a statement.
It added that “Arik Air Ltd did not provide the passengers with temporary accommodation for transit; neither was there any customer service desk to assist the passengers in resolving their individual complaints.”
Speaking on behalf of the airline, its Associate Vice President, Ground Operations Department, Femi Kukoyi, apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the incident.
Mr. Kukoyi said the airline had to charter an aircraft which brought some of the baggage to Lagos on Wednesday.
He assured them that an aircraft was en-route Lagos from London and would arrive with about 300 bags by 7pm while the remaining would be brought in by another of its aircraft by 5am on Thursday.
Information available to this medium from those on ground is that many of the passengers who had been waiting for their luggage since Friday kept vigil at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport but were disappointed.
“The luggage brought in on Thursday belongs to passengers who arrived after Friday,” the NCAA source continued.
“Hopefully, the airline will bring the others later today or tomorrow if passengers allow its plane to travel to London.
“For now, NCAA is looking for how to settle the matter amicably and give Arik a soft landing.
“Don’t forget that workers of the company are also complaining as they have not been paid their salaries for five months.”
