Passengers traveling from Kano to Abuja with Air Peace Airline (P47425) found themselves stranded as the airline rescheduled its flight time from 4.50 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2, to 1 a.m. on Feb. 3.
Initially notified via email that the original flight time of 4.50 p.m. had been shifted to 8.55 p.m., passengers faced a series of delays and uncertainties. After a prolonged wait at the airport, the airline announced at 9.15 p.m. that the expected aircraft arrival time would be at 10.20 p.m., only to later update it to 1 a.m.
In response to growing dissatisfaction, some passengers, vocal about the airline’s service, were served carbonated drinks and biscuits. Frustrated customers challenged the airline staff, demanding explanations for the repeated delays.
One passenger, Mr. Wole Adeyeye, expressed his frustration, stating, “It is really frustrating and disheartening the way passengers are being treated because what happens is that they take your money, get you to the airport and then dump you there. Nobody cares where you are going to or how you even get there.”
Prof. A. Mohammed of Ahmadu Bello University raised concerns about safety and demanded accommodation for passengers if they were to depart at 1 a.m. “After such a long time, they only offered us Fanta; is it Fanta we came to the airport to drink? How can you treat people this way,” he questioned.
The Air Peace Station Manager, Mr. Muhyideen Sanni, attributed the delay on the Lagos-bound flight to a technical fault. In an effort to address the situation, he urged passengers to volunteer to stay back at the airport while vulnerable passengers, including mothers with infants and the aged, be allowed on a smaller aircraft. As an incentive, the airline offered dinner and a 25% discount on their next flight to those who volunteered.
After negotiations, 50 passengers boarded the Lagos-bound flight at about 11.54 p.m., leaving behind volunteers who slept on chairs at the airport. The fate of the Lagos-bound passengers was yet to be determined at the time of filing this report.
Despite repeated delays, the Abuja-bound flight eventually took off at 12.55 a.m., leaving passengers with lingering frustrations and unanswered questions about the overall handling of the situation by Air Peace.