Passengers stranded as Air Peace closes counters, airline, Oshiomhole clash

Scores of Air Peace passengers were left stranded on Wednesday in Lagos as the airline closed its counters to passengers, it claimed had arrived late for check-in.

Abuja-bound passengers who claimed to have turned up for boarding earlier than the stipulated 45 minutes’ appearance at the counters before departure were denied boarding.

The denial to process them for the flight that departed a few minutes before 7 am was said to have angered the passengers who besieged the Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, who was equally denied check-in, led to a minor protest from the for unionist and some of the stranded passengers.

The peace protest according to some of the passengers was to get explanation from the airline for closing its counters to them while still selling tickets on the aircraft that was still on the ground.

However Air Peace in a statement described the irate passengers as ‘unruly’ and ‘disruptive’ of its operations at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1.

According to a statement issued by the airline’s management, the incident occurred at 6.10am when the politician which he refused to name in its statement arrived at the terminal for Air Peace flight p47120 scheduled to depart for Abuja at 6.30am.

The carrier stated that in accordance with the airline’s strict on-time departure policy, boarding had already been concluded and the flight departed as scheduled.

According to the airline, “Upon learning that he had missed his flight, the politician reportedly became aggressive, physically assaulting airline staff and escalating the situation further by forcefully sealing the terminal’s entry gate”.

The airline explained that it promptly activated an operational contingency plan, redirecting affected passengers through an alternative terminal to ensure that their travel plans were not derailed by the disruption.

Oshiomhole, while speaking with Aviation Metric via telephone narrated how passengers, including himself, were prevented from boarding an Air Peace flight to Abuja despite having checked in online.

He said the commotion at the domestic terminal was sparked by Air Peace’s decision to prevent passengers from boarding while allegedly reselling seats at inflated prices to others on the spot, describing the action of Air Peace as extortion.

His words: “I booked Air Peace… They delayed the flight for over five hours. In the end, they announced a cancellation. I had to get another ticket. Yesterday, I booked a flight for 6:30 a.m., which is their first flight today. I booked and asked them to check me in online, which I did, along with two other Ghanaians who met me in Lagos. We checked in online just to avoid the last-minute issues I’ve had with them a couple of times.”

“So I asked, ‘How can you close boarding for a 6:30 flight at 6:05? What is the purpose of online check-in, then?’ If I had to go through another check-in process, then what’s the point of checking in online?

“While speaking to them, I saw many men and women who had been there even before me, with similar experiences. Basically, they were selling tickets on the spot at higher prices. I’ll give you an example. A lady bought her ticket for N146,000 online. She arrived at the airport at 5:50 a.m. for the 6:30 a.m.

“They told her she was late and that the counter had closed for check-in. She said that was impossible, as it wasn’t even 6:00 a.m. They told her she would be put on the next flight. She protested, saying, ‘Why? Put me on this flight.’ But they told her the flight was full and she would have to wait. Meanwhile, the airline was selling tickets on the spot for between N200,000 and N300,000. To take advantage of the situation, they discouraged those who had bought tickets online at lower rates and sold to people willing to pay more.

The former Governor of Edo State said when he found out the underhand selling of tickets and other suspicious transactions across the counters, the airline officials beckon on him as they tried to put him on the flight but declined.

“You can’t stop checking when your people are on the queue and then you are selling ticket to new people. If I had accepted their private solution, even the video they are circulating, you will hear what I said when I said, I don’t need favour, just grant me my rights not favour. They said senator, come in let us take you but I said no. Where would other people who are not senators go to?

He said two women with six months babies were denied check-in even when they arrived the terminal well beyond the closure of the counters as they were asked to pay over N150, 000 to be put on another flight.

“Even with the baby, they have no human sympathy and I told them that if anything happens to this baby, I cursed that God should visit the same to their children because they had no sympathy for a baby of about five months old.”

Executive Director, African Travel Commission (ATC) Lucky Onoriode George said the airline was still selling ticket when he got to the counter to another set of people on the same flight while denying people chance to check in for the 6.30 am flight.

“It was at that point that I was arguing with them and they said I should wait for the next flight. It is full ticket that I bought and not online ticket and they said I would have to pay N15, 000 to change that and I asked them where would I get N15, 000? Others were asked to pay between N120, 000 and N140, 000 to add to the ticket they already bought. That was when we came back from ticketing point to the checking are.

“It was at that point that Senator Adams Oshiomhole came in and they quickly walked up to him and his staff telling them that he had checked in online already. They told him he was almost late. The manager then collected his ticket to sort him out. While they were waiting, the flight was overbooked and that was the reason they quickly closed the counters. The flight was full and there was no space for Oshiomhole and later told him to wait for the next available flight”.

“There was a woman that was carrying a baby that was less than six months and the lady was bringing the woman for medical check up in Abuja. She was distressed. It was at that point Oshiomhole intervened and they said the plane is fully booked. He asked them to check the woman in on the next available flight and they said there is no seat on that flight too and they said if they are to get seats, they must pay N200, 000 and they said they do not have the money”,

“It was then Oshiomhole said for Christ sake you people should have human feeling. Because they have oversold their plane, they decided to hurriedly tell people that they have closed their counters. Instead of them to show compassion, they themselves were disorganized, uncoordinated and confused. People were worried about the health of the baby and they never bothered. That was what got Oshiomhole angry that they cannot be treating Nigerians badly. He was fighting for the lady and not for himself. At the end of the day, Air Peace said they must upgrade their tickets. They did not show any remorse. They knew what they did. And because of that, they were now using the excuse of 30 minutes time to do whatever they liked and subjecting people to hardship”.

Wole Shadare