A group of Abuja-bound AirPeace passengers faced a frustrating ordeal at the MMA terminal in Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday morning despite arriving early as many were denied seats on their scheduled 6:30 am flight due to overbooking.
Persecondnews reports that passengers who arrived as early as 5:15 am or 5:20 am were labeled as “missing” their flights and were unable to secure alternative seats.
Airline officials claimed that subsequent flights, including those at 12:30 pm and evening, were fully booked, leaving the disgruntled passengers unattended and forced to wait in the terminal.
Some passengers resorted to using their travel boxes as makeshift seats, highlighting the chaos and disorganization caused by the airline’s overbooking.
Efforts to reschedule their flights for 12.30pm or evening were unsuccessful as the officials claimed that the flights were fully booked.
A passenger, who gave his name simply as Charles told Persecondnews:” AirPeace is messing up big time. I got here 15 minutes after 5am and they said I have missed my flight as it is fully booked.
“This is very embarrassing and disappointing. They are not serious. So nobody is checking if the available seats on the aircraft are overbooked. It’s a shame.
“The regulatory agency should sanction AirPeace for this. It is becoming a standard practice.”
Mrs Nneka also said:” AirPeace officials especially in Lagos are always happy if people missed their flights. At Lagos AirPeace they are very corrupt. They will exploit you to reschedule your flight.
“Out of frustration, my husband has gone to buy a ticket of Aero Contractors airline to Abuja for lesser amount and he is airborne now.
“He’s a pastor so he can’t afford to miss his ministration. I will also buy another ticket from other airlines and see if I can use the AirPeace ticket for return flight. It’s poor service, poor management.”
A middle-aged man described the treatment given to passengers as appalling and unbefitting.
“This is nonsense. It’s really stressful and it’s unfair to subject people to this kind of inhuman treatment.
“See old people and children being subjected to endless waiting and hanging around. This is too much.”
Persecondnews reports that some passengers who could not withstand the terrible situation especially the aged had to leave out of annoyance.
On the chances of securing seats in case a passenger or some passengers decide to drop, a senior female officer donnig AirPeace uniform said: It is 50-50. It is not really assured that one will get a seat on other flights for the day.
“I’m not promising but if you can hang around for some time, let us see how it goes.
“Even rescheduling missed flights for tomorrow is not possible as they are fully booked except for Thursday, April 10.”
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