New indigenous carrier, Discovery Air abandoned passengers who bought
their tickets and were billed to travel on Christmas Day on 10:00 am
flight from Abuja to Lagos. The action has angered the management of the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which has threatened to
withdraw the airline’s Air Operating Certificate (AOC).
One of the passengers, who simply identified himself as Yakubu, told
THISDAY that three days before the flight date, he logged on the
airline’s website and bought and paid for a ticket with online
confirmation.
“I got to the airport by 8:30 am and met seven other passengers but
there were no Discovery Air officials at the airline’s check-in counter
or their ticket booth. We waited till 9:00 am before we got their
numbers and started calling. A representative of the Consumer Protection
Directorate of NCAA who was on hand helped to call some of the staff
members of the airline but their phones were switched off.
“There was no information from the airline on why they would not fly or
were not at the airport.
Many of us waited for hours but no one came
and addressed us from the airline. At about 4:00 pm some of us bought
the ticket of other airlines and left for Lagos. I left the airport at
about 6:00 pm. It was a terrible experience,” Yakubu said.
When contacted, a source at the airline told THISDAY that he called
Discovery Air chairman and other top officials to know why the airline
did not operate on that day, but their phones were switched off. The
source added that there was no official statement to that effect that
some passengers were abandoned at the airport.
But the incident was confirmed by the Director of Consumer Protection
Directorate of NCAA, Mr. Adamu Abdullahi, who said that the regulatory
body gave a letter of strong warning to the airline, adding that if such
action was repeated the airline would be strictly sanctioned.
THISDAY also learnt that the airline stopped operation for three days
from January 1 to 3 and resumed on January 4, and when passengers came
to request for the refund of their money there was no official to attend
to them.
Angered by this development, the Director General of NCAA, Captain
Murktar Usman was said to have contemplated withdrawing the airline’s
AOC but was told by some officials of the agency that it has to follow a
process.
However, the Managing Director of the airline, Captain Mohammed
Abdulsalami said the three-day work free day by the airline was in
celebration of the New Year that the airline resumed operations on
January 4, 2015.
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