The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has waded into the rift between Arik and its passengers over the failure of the airline to ferry their baggage from London Heathrow, since Friday 2nd December 2016.
Consequently, a letter to the effect has been issued by the Authority to Arik Airlines.
In it, the airline has been given 48 hours within which the backlog of all short landed baggage MUST be ferried into Lagos.
Similarly, NCAA has also in line with Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) 2015, part 19, directed that all passengers with short landed baggage MUST be offered CARE and compensation in line with part 19. 17. 2.1 (b) of the Regulation.
A compliance report including but not limited to the list of affected passengers, details of passengers handling should be forwarded to the Authority within 96 hours from the receipt of the letter from the Authority.
Passengers are also enjoined to exercise restraint while dealing with such challenging issues in the airports. Flight delays are normal occurrences in aviation and rather than resort to violence, passengers are assured of the readiness of NCAA to continue to protect the rights and privileges of all stakeholders within the ambit of the law so as to ensure safety and security of the aviation industry.