The Federal Government has warned Virgin Atlantic and British Airways for treating Nigerians on board their flights with contempt. A statement from the office of the Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, states that the two airlines have been treating Nigerians with the “utmost contempt” when they are checking in and airborne. It further explained that the minister had formally warned one of the airlines in the past over disgraceful treatment they meted out to some Nigerian passengers when the airlines were petitioned.
Fani-Kayode therefore warned the two airline operators that major sanctions would be meted to them should another complaint of maltreatment is reported to his office.“Let it be understood clearly by all and sundry that Nigerians are not second class citizens and the Minister would not sit by and allow our people to be treated like animals by anybody or for any reason “.He also advised that henceforth both carriers should offer better training and far more discipline to both their ground and air staff and encourage them to treat Nigerians with respect and decency just as they do to non-Nigerians.
This is a welcomed statement. It is really ridiculous considering the fact that a plane ticket from naija to london costs about £630 ( 6 hour journey), almost same amount if not more than a ticket from london to india or south africa ( 1 million hours) and to think that all flights from naija are always overbooked. I think we should drop these airlines and let them really feel our impact on their profits, but sha o, me Im going to naija next xmas and will probably be going by virgin atlantic( call me a hypocrite) cos no other airline apart from these 2 provide direct services and I dont think Im ready to spend 5 hours held up somewhere in freetown or cairo.
What we need is more competition from better airlines. God dey.
3 comments:
What you need is more Nigerian air carriers on the London route with their illustrious and world envied reputation for safety and service - I recommend you try Air Zimbabwe as an alternative to BA or Virgin.......
Well, I quite agree that we should try other airline carriers, but Air Zimbabwe? Did you hear about how passengers meant to fly from London to Harare during the christmas seasin were stuck at Gatwick airport for almost 2days?
South African Airways (SAA, you could suggest as It was named as the Best African Airline Carrier in 2006
Interesting to know.
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