Yemisi Izuora
A Nigerian passenger has narrted how British Airways abandoned about 300 of its Nigerian passengers in Accra, Ghana following the diversion of the flight to the country last week by the airline.
Almost all the international airlines could not operate into the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos last week due to inclement weather conditions and breakdown of landing aids at the airport.
It was gathered that British Airways the airline specifically told its Nigerian passengers to find their way to Lagos, Nigeria when it was glaring that it could not fly them into Lagos, according to NFN report.
One of the affected passengers, Mr. Michael Williams, the Head of Business Development for EbonyLife TV lamented in an interview that the airline abandoned them in Accra, Ghana and told them to find their way to Lagos after 48 hours in the city.
He explained that the flight was supposed to land in Lagos last Tuesday, but the diversion to Accra made the passengers to spend another two days in Accra before they eventually returned to Lagos on Friday night through their own private arrangements.
According to Williams, some of the affected passengers had to return to Nigeria on Friday evening through a charter bus from Cross Country Automobile Company when British Airways said its Boeing 747 aircraft deployed to the Lagos-London route would be returning to London.
He stated further that the airline also gave the passengers the option of returning to London with the aircraft.
He decried that most of the affected passengers had to source for funds from their pockets when the airline categorically informed them that it could no longer take care of their expenses, despite not flying them to their destination in Nigeria.
He said: “We were supposed to land in Lagos last Tuesday, but unfortunately, there was a weather issue in Lagos and the flight diverted to Accra, Ghana. We went to Accra and they promised that they would try the next day, Wednesday. We were put in a hotel and we went back the next day, but they said the situation didn’t improve.
We sat at the Accra Airport, which equally had fog, but the difference was that the facilities were working perfectly as airlines were landing and taking off. So, the following day, which was Thursday, they said the situation had not improved and the pilot told us that it was not the weather challenge, but the landing aids at the Lagos airport were not functioning, which made landing difficult. The pilot said the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Lagos airport was not calibrated. They said they had the same situation in January.
“So, by Thursday afternoon, we got communication from British Airways that we should go to the airport to reclaim our luggage because their aircraft had to return to London. I didn’t have any check in luggage, but I had to follow my friend to the airport. It was at the airport that British Airways told us that they have cancelled the flight and we should find our way to Lagos. They said we should keep our receipts in order to claim all expenses we may have incurred. They said henceforth, we will be on our own as the hotel and feeding they paid for would elapse by that Thursday.
“They also gave us the option of returning to London with them with that aircraft or the regular Accra-London flight. What we realised was that because we were on our own; we had to take decisions on our own. So, we decided to come back by road from Accra to Lagos.
Besides, a memo sent to the affected passengers and intercepted by our correspondent, confirmed the statement of Williams on the abandonment of the passengers by the airline.
The memo, which was dated February 13, 2020, indicated that the airline apologised for the disruption to the flight services and equally advised them to make their own travel arrangements to Lagos, stressing that it was unable to operate to the airport.
The memo said: “Due to adverse weather at the airport we were unable to safely land into Lagos Airport. We regret to inform that due to the operational constraints, we have had to cancel this flight.
“We recommend that you make your own travel arrangements to Lagos as we are unable to operate safely in the coming days. If you wish to travel from Accra – London Heathrow, there are a limited availability of seats to book on. Please speak with our colleagues at the airport to adjust your ticket, subject to availability.
“BA078 Accra – London Heathrow is scheduled to depart at 23:00 local time. Please submit your receipts for claims hotels, transport, refreshment, cost for calls and internet access and transport to www.ba.com/helpme.”
