The Managing Director and the Country General Manager of British Airways have been summoned over alleged violation of rights of its passengers by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
A copy of the summons dated February 20 was obtained exclusively by our correspondent on Friday in Abuja.
The passengers who had arrived from London through the British Airways flight and were supposed to have landed in Lagos were flown to Abuja due to poor landing visibility.
Some of them described the diversion as unacceptable, saying that the airline did not provide adequate information for the passengers.
The FCCPC in the summons ordered the officials of British Airways to appear at its headquarters in Abuja on February 27.
It requested the airline to provide names and particulars of passengers on board the BA 0075 aircraft from London to Lagos on February 12.
The airline is also required to explain the circumstances that caused it to land at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja instead of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The summons read in part, “The information should include any underlying standing arrangements with hotels and transport companies or evidence of the ad hoc arrangement made.
“In addition, evidence of hotel reservation showing number of rooms, copies of all releases, updates, emails or otherwise of any information to passengers.”
The commission also requested a full report of luggage handling associated with the flight including any baggage irregularity report including delay, loss and or damage.
Some of the passengers on the aircraft had described the treatment meted to them by the airline as unacceptable.
One of the passengers from London who gave her name as Mrs Chinelo Etiaba said the airline did not provide adequate information for the passengers.
She had said, “We arrived on BA yesterday evening from London to Abuja, they could not land in Lagos which was the reason why they brought us here and we got here about 7 am.
“It took them about four hours to get us to Sheraton. We got to Sheraton, there were no rooms because they did not make adequate provision.
“Right now, they asked us to get to the airport with no means of transportation.
“We know that it is not BA’s fault that the weather was unmanageable but the least they could have done was to keep us updated.
“We are over 300 passengers and they provided only two buses. How are we going to get 321 people to the airport which is about 45 minutes from here to board a flight that is supposed to leave at 2. 45pm?”
Also, another passenger from London, Chief Young Ewina, described the services from the airline as poor.
Ewina said that although he was on medication, he had not been able to access the medication which was on board the flight.
“BA just abandoned us here. They did not even provide transportation for some of us from the airport.
“They said we should come to Sheraton hotel, we all came here but they made arrangement for less than 200 people.
“Out of the 321 passengers, we all slept outside and we have elderly people here. We are on medication and they said paramedics will be here, but there is nothing like that.”
(PUNCH)
