Passengers of Arik air have been stranded for four days at Kaduna International airport following the failure of Arik Airline to airlift them as scheduled.
The affected passengers while describing the act of Arik as nonchallant said they refused to communicate the reason for the cancellation to them.
The passengers also alleged that the airline had been cancelling its flight without considering the distance they travelled from or the implication on their businesses.
The passengers who complained to the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika lamented that Arik has continued to cancel their flight since Tuesday without explanation or apology from the airline officials.
A passenger, Mrs Janet Oyedele who spoke to our correspondent said: “Like most passengers, I was not aware of the cancellation of my flight until I got to the airport. One of the staff working at the airline’s counter assured us that the flight was rescheduled for Saturday but I am not sure if that is possible, as the airline already has a flight scheduled for Saturday.
“Arik air has been messing up with passengers and getting away with it over time. It has become a recurring event in the operation of Arik Air to keep passengers stranded at the airport without any apology to the victims,” she added.
Another passenger who gave her name as Mrs Nkenna with her three kids said she and her family were supposed to arrive Lagos last week but the airline has continued to cancel the flight without prior notification and everyday we get to the airport, they keep telling us to come back tomorrow again.
“I and my family including our children are being stranded at Kaduna Airport by Arik Airline. We didn’t know what to do because the airline did not give us any prior notice to the cancellation of the flight; no text message, no email. And we have been coming to the airport everyday since on Tuesday hoping to to board only for an official of the airline to tell us on Friday that we will board on Saturday,” she explained.
When the Arik Air Communications Manager, Mr Ola Adebanji was contacted, he explained that the cancellation was due to poor weather and scarcity of aviation fuel.
According to him: “the cancellation is due to scarcity of aviation fuel and poor weather. If the weather is okay to fly today (Saturday), we will.”
When asked if the passengers would get compensation for the delay, he simply said: “I am not aware of that.”