How Popular Airline Abandoned Over 300 Passengers At Lagos Airport Without a Word, Cancelled Int’l Flight 30mins to Take-Off

How Popular Airline Abandoned Over 300 Passengers At Lagos Airport Without a Word, Cancelled Int’l Flight 30mins to Take-Off

Over 300 passengers were left stranded at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport by Turkish Airlines after their flight was cancelled less than 30 minutes before take-off on Tuesday night.

The flight, which was supposed to convey passengers from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos to Istanbul, Turkey, had been scheduled for 8:55 pm, but the airline did not inform the passengers of the flight cancellation until 8:26 pm on Tuesday.

Bola Owolana, one of the passengers who was abandoned and left stranded at the airport, told FIJ that when she arrived at the airport at around 6:30 pm on Tuesday, she saw some people picketing the airline, shouting slogans and causing a commotion.

When she inquired from people at the airport what the commotion was about, she was told some members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) were picketing Turkish Airlines because it failed to pay gratuity to some of its members who were sacked by the airline five years ago.

“I wondered what was going to happen and if it would affect our flight. Some of us went to the office of the airline and their staff were nowhere to be found. We met a woman who told us the crew was on the tarmac offloading the flight that had arrived from Turkey,” she said.

“I thought that was odd because they were supposed to offload the plane and clerk people in simultaneously. We also heard the general manager was in a meeting with some members of the NLC trying to resolve the issues they had with them.”

Owolana also said no staff of the airline came to address them while they were there, and after waiting for another hour, they became angry.

“We waited for another hour, and at 8:26 pm, which was 20 minutes before scheduled departure, they sent a text message informing us that the flight had been cancelled,” she said.

“Flight cancelled. So what next? Will they give us hotel vouchers or food vouchers? That was when we heard that the plane that had arrived to take us to Istanbul had left empty with the cabin crew. Yet, no one addressed us. We are paying customers and deserve to be addressed.”

In search of responses to their questions, Owolana and three other passengers went to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) office to dialogue with Lokman Balkan, the general manager for Turkish Airlines in Nigeria.

“He kept us waiting for two hours and didn’t bother to come talk to anybody. At some point, the FAAN officials escorted him out of the office. Just like that. Passengers were left stranded without being addressed or offered anything,” Owolana lamented.

It was also learned that some of the passengers had come from other states across the country. Some of the abandoned passengers were reportedly seen with children.

Owolana confirmed that some passengers were still at the airport when she left on Wednesday morning.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on Wednesday confirmed the incident, warning that the agency would not hesitate to invoke relevant sections of the organisation’s regulations to sanction Turkish Airlines over mistreatment of Nigerian passengers.

According to him, the agency will not hesitate to roll out stiff penalties and sanctions to Turkish Airlines as Nigerian passengers are still stranded at the airport, following its failure to airlift them to Istanbul.

Achimugu said the Federal Government and its agencies would spare no effort to call to order any carrier that violates the rights of Nigerian passengers.

THECONSCIENCEng last November reported how veteran Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde called out Turkish Airlines after allegedly failing to show any Nigerian film during her 40-hour flight.

The actress had accused the carrier of ‘blatant disrespect’ and ‘discrimination’ against African travellers.

She also complained about discriminatory fares against Africans wondering why the poor treatment despite higher rates on international airlines.

An email sent to Turkish Airlines on Wednesday was not responded to five hours after.

FIJ, THECONSCIENCENng