Return Passengers’ Luggage In 24 Hours, NCAA Orders Arik

John-Onivehu AndahDecember 8, 2016

arik

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has ordered Arik Air to return luggage of its London-Lagos passengers within 24 hours.

The NCAA also ordered the airline to compensate passengers that could not retrieve their baggage as at Wednesday.

According to aviation rules, Each passenger is expected to get a compensation of $150 (N60, 000) for every 24-hour of delay.

Director of Consumer Complaints Department of the regulatory agency Adamu Abdullahi then urged aggrieved passengers to remain calm as the authorities work to resolve the issue.

Abdullahi confirmed the agency has directed Arik to compensate every passenger of $150 in consonance with extant laws.

“We have sent the letter to the airline and it also contains a directive that every bag must be here within the next 24 hours.

“A directive is a directive and we will hold Arik Air’s management responsible, and I can assure you that they will abide by the directive,” Abdullahi said.

But the management blamed the incident on the use of a smaller aircraft. It said a Boeing 737-800 on the route, due to maintenance on the wide-body, allocated A330-200 plane.

The airline’s spokesperson Banji Ola said the airline’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft had been hit by a handling company in New York. He said that necessitated the deployment of the B737-800 on the Lagos-London route.

Meanwhile, the Consumers’ Protection Council has summoned the management of Arik to explain the ugly development and alleged poor treatment of Nigerian passengers that patronised the airline.

Scores of London -Lagos passengers on Sunday and Monday arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos without their luggage.

John-Onivehu AndahDecember 8, 2016