Chinedu Eze
About 700 passengers travelling to Dubai and London on Medview Airline flights yesterday protested violently against the airline for cancelling their flights for four days.
The passengers have become stranded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, where many of them spent their Christmas.
The aggrieved passengers thursday morning marched to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Consumer Protection Directorate to complain about the failure of the airline to airlift them to their destinations as scheduled.
Some of the passengers who spoke to journalists said they ought to have flown out of the country to their destinations since December 24, but have been stranded since then without any concrete travel plan from the airline and no plan for compensation.
Reacting to the incident, a statement issued by the airline management explained that the reason for its delayed flight out of London, Gatwick, stating that the airline had to deal with an Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situation compounded by the holidays and other uncomplimentary factors that have made the situation linger.
The airline in a statement issued from the United Kingdom by Chief Operating Officer/Accountable Manager, Mr. Michael Ajigbotosho, said the airline’s aircraft had to embark on an air return as part of safety measures.
He also stated that the airline had got approval for three aircraft to airlift at least 700 passengers but for the unruly behaviour of some passengers which made Border Force to wade in and eventually only two of the flights could leave London.
The statement said: “Our flight VL 2101 out of London to Lagos on December 22 which has about 300 passengers on board returned back to Gatwick after departure as a precautionary measure taken by the Pilot- in -Command (PiC) in line with Aviation Standard and Recommended Practices.
“This led to cancellation of the flight as the aircraft was declared AOG (Aircraft On Ground). The passengers were catered for, they were lodged in a hotel and those who decided to go back home were also taken care of.
“After the aircraft was declared AOG, we had to wait for a maintenance report. The aircraft had to remain on ground until a certified expert carried out the necessary checks and certify that the aircraft is airworthy. And the holiday compounded the problem.
“In line with that confirmation, we decided to seek a relief flight and tried as much as possible to get the approval from both the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Nigeria and the CAA of United Kingdom in Gatwick. We attest to their full cooperation and we appreciate them.
“We announced to operate three flights feeling the concern of all our passengers. On December 27, we positioned three aircraft after securing the approval of the CAA including Nigerian authority.
“Disappointingly, due to the unruly behaviour of some Nigerian passengers, the Border Force had to intervene to support the operations for crowd control purposes.
“These three aeroplanes would have evacuated 700 passengers which would have normalised the situation. But the passengers neither understood nor knew the challenges ahead which resorted to having a delayed operation and crew rest and we ended up operating two flights out of three.â€
The airline appealed to its Nigerian customers, expressing appreciation for their patronage and apologised for the experience they went through this Christmas.
“We seek their understanding to know that their safety comes first before any other thing. We feel their concern and the expectations of meeting their families for the Christmas holiday. Our normal flights resume on Friday for London, Dubai and Jeddah,†the statement also said.
