British Airways (BA) has tendered unreserved apologies to its numerous passengers affected by the recent flights disruptions on its Lagos -London route.
The airline which regretted the frustrations experienced and the disruptions caused by its inability to provide adequate accommodation for all every affected passengers has encouraged those affected to send receipts of expenses incurred during the period to its customer relations team which is on standby to process the reimbursements and also attend to queries.
British Airways, in a statement by its General Manager, West Africa, Kola Olayinka, said that inclement weather was responsible for the developments and inconvenience experienced by customers on the route during the period.
“We would like to use this opportunity to tender an unreserved apology to our esteemed customers for the inconveniences of varying degrees, experienced these past few days. The situation has been a result of recent delays and diversions of flights occasioned by the inclement weather causing very poor visibility at the Lagos Airport, coupled with a number of factors outside of our immediate control.
“We regret the frustrations experienced and the disruptions it would have had on earlier-planned engagements of our esteemed customers. We would also like to use this opportunity to encourage passengers to send receipts of expenses incurred during this period to our customer relations team on standby to process the reimbursements and also attend to queries,” the airline said.
Olayinka explained that the unusual development caused the airline to take the decision that best ensured safety and security of passengers and the crew.
“In these unique cases, the decision to delay or divert flights were made carefully by our pilots who are well trained to handle situations like this, especially in consideration of the safety and security of our passengers and crew,” he added.
He added that affected customers “were properly accommodated in hotels where adequate rooms were available, meals, refreshments, and transport to and from the airports were provided for their movement at the different Airports in Accra, Abuja, and Lagos”.
The West Africa General Manager of the airline however regretted that during the period some passengers couldn’t be easily accommodated because most hotels were taken up by passengers of airlines that were earlier diverted to Abuja.
Olayinka who said this had direct result of inadequacy of accommodation for passengers, however said it was resolved.
“We booked all 157 available rooms and accommodated 157 Passengers, we also ensured the safety of the remaining passengers by accommodating them in a dedicated area provided by Sheraton where we provided meals and drinks”.
The airline boss in West Africa who said that the Accra incident was markedly unpredictable as the delay lingered for two days due to the persisting weather condition, explained, “We chartered a Boeing 767 from Euro Atlantic to convey passengers from Accra to Lagos however a number of passengers had opted to make personal arrangements for their returns.”
