A LAWMAKER, Abdullahi Aliyu Ahmed, has threatened to sue Air Peace Limited for alleged breach of contract, including flight delays and disruptions.
Ahmed, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Interior, told reporters in an interview on Sunday, March 31, in Katsina that he paid about N12 million for a business class ticket on March 22, with his family and was supposed to depart Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on March 27 to Jeddah for lesser hajj “but the Air Peace changed the ticket to economy class without compensation.”
Ahmed, who represents Musawa/Matazu Federal Constituency of Katsina State, complained further that the Air Peace flight P4752 was supposed to depart Kano airport on Wednesday, March 27, but was delayed till the next day.
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He accused the airline of persistent history of flight delays, poor customer service, and inept passenger handling.
He described his experience as disturbing, inhumane, and unacceptable.
“They should pay back the money; otherwise, I will be left with no option but to approach the court for redress,” Ahmed said.
The lawmaker claimed that his experience with Air Peace was just one of many anomalies that passengers in Nigeria’s aviation industry are made to endure, the reason he vowed to seek redress in court.
He promised to work with his colleagues at the National Assembly to guarantee that Air Peace and other ‘negligent airlines’ are sanctioned accordingly without fear or favour.
All attempts to get Air Peace’s reaction to the accusations were unsuccessful, as calls to its customer care number were not picked up, and an email sent to its call centre address was not responded to hours before publishing this report.
The ICIR, in a report published on October 24, 2023, highlighted how Nigerian air travellers were being frustrated daily by flight disruptions and delayed airfare refunds.
According to data gathered from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) website, in 2022, 51,772 flights were delayed. Of this figure, over 47,000 delays were by domestic airlines, while international flights accounted for 4,628.
Also, out of 877 flight cancellations in 2022, 795 were by domestic airlines, while only 82 international trips were cancelled.
A reporter with the ICIR
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