An uncle to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, has written a letter of complaint to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), seeking punitive actions against Air Peace Airline for what he tagged a disrespect to the Emir and the people of Kano State.
In the petition to the NCAA on Thursday, the emir’s uncle and one of his closest allies, Isa Sanusi Bayero, popularly known as Isa Pilot, said the airline delayed their Banjul to Lagos flight by over one hour and refused to allow them board their connecting flight to Kano because they arrived in Lagos 30 minutes before departure time.
Bayero said, “We, 10 of us, including His Highness Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, Sarkin Kano and four other business class passengers with additional other five economy class passengers all boarded our return Air Peace flight No. P47776 from Banjul to Lagos.
“Our departure from Banjul was scheduled for 00:10hrs (local time) on 24th February, 2022, however, we departed Banjul at 01:19hrs and we landed at Lagos at 5:45am. Our connecting flight to Kano on the same Air Peace airline was for 6:15 hrs. This gave us only 30 minutes to make our flight to Kano.”
He said he personally called the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyeama, to inform him of the precarious situation and requested him to assist by delaying their departing flight to Kano as a mark of respect to the revered Emir of Kano.
“He flatly refused and avowed that he will not do that. I personally took this as an insult and a flagrant show of disrespect to his highness and the Kano people at large.”
He said it was very disappointing because the delay was the fault of the airline, adding that he was “aware that even with arriving international flights, departing aircrafts – local or international – are often delayed to enable arriving passengers join. Why should that be different with Air Peace Airline?”
He said despite having to check into a hotel at personal cost, the airline also requested them to pay a “No-show” fee when they wanted to rebook the next available flight of the airline which was by 7pm.
“This is an extreme case of insensitivity and callousness. In view of the foregoing, I feel strongly aggrieved and demand your kind intervention for restitution and for appropriate measures to be taken to stop this unwholesome development from happening in the future,” he added.
When contacted, a Spokesperson of the airline said he would get back to one of our correspondents. He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
The Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, confirmed receipt of the letter but declined further comment.
“I can only say we received the letter, we are working on it but I cannot say anything on it,” he said.
First published in Daily Trust