Arik Air, on Wednesday criticised the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority for announcing the N6 million fine slammed on the airline for abandoning its passengers’ luggage in London on December 2, 3 and 4, 2016.
Arik’s spokesman, Banji Ola, said in a statement that NCAA acted “unprofessionally” by publicising the fine without giving the carrier a chance to respond to the allegations.
The aviation agency had in response to the public outcry over the luggage delay directed the airline to pay $150 to each affected passenger.
But Arik said the agency should have allowed it to respond to the allegations before breaking the news to Nigerians.
“Arik Air did everything possible to ensure the London passengers got their baggage in good time. When the airline’s wide-body A330-200 aircraft was damaged by a ground handling truck, it deployed a B737-800 on the London route to minimise the disruption to the passengers.
“All passengers checking in from London were given a letter informing them of the capacity limitation and weight restriction on this aircraft type and advised that some of their baggage would be delayed because of this and transported on the next available flight with capacity.
“All passengers were accepted on to the flight based on this understanding. However, after arriving in Lagos some of them formed pressure groups and took the law into their own hands disrupting the operations of the airline, assaulting the airline’s employees and destroying its property. Some of the airline’s employees were beaten and hospitalised and some of them are still receiving medical treatment as of date.
“Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) security did nothing to prevent the passengers from disrupting the airline’s operations or in providing adequate security to the airline and its personnel to enable the flights to leave on time thereby preventing a quicker resolution in the recovery of baggage.
“Some FAAN security personnel were also encouraging passengers to disrupt checking-in process and seated themselves on top of Arik Air check-in counters.
“Arik Air uses this medium to communicate to all stakeholders that we would be formally addressing each of the issues raised in the NCAA statement and in their letter within the seven working days deadline stated in their letter.
“The airline also appeals to all the industry stakeholders and agencies to uphold and protect the rights of operating airlines in the country in dealing with total lawlessness and security breaches by individuals,” Ola stated.