Michael AndeyinSome customers have publicly criticised Air Peace after the airline cancelled their flight some hours before departure time on Wednesday.
The private Nigerian airline flies to multiple local and intercontinental locations. According to Allen Onyema, Air Peace’s chief executive, the airline had over 30 aircraft, making it the largest domestically and one of Africa’s major air transporters. However, customers said they suffered from the airline’s poor service.
X user @Johnthepunting was displeased with Air Peace for cancelling his flight without giving him an alternative option. He said that the airline had earlier rescheduled his flight from 2:20 pm to 1:30 pm on Wednesday.
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“I don’t understand how someone would pay N150,000 to book a flight from Abuja to Ibadan and Air Peace would not provide any solution or alternative but ask me to wait till Sunday. Abeg who does that?” he said,
“How do you treat your customers badly Air Peace or is it my fault you guys didn’t do due diligence before allowing people to book a flight? Please, I need you all to help me retweet because I know it will take 100 years for them to refund me. I need to be in Ibadan tomorrow latest and they should find a solution to this nonsense.”
I don’t understand how someone would pay 150k to book a flight from Abuja to Ibadan and @flyairpeace would not provide any solution or alternative but ask me to wait till sunday . Abeg who does that ? How do you treat your customers badly @flyairpeace or is it my fault you guys… https://t.co/KyifOEsOnA pic.twitter.com/ZcfpNsUdQ5— JOHN THE PUNTER (@Johnthepunting) September 25, 2024
More customers shared their individual experiences with the airline under the said X post, including refund complaints.
Esigie Aguele, an enterprise architect, said that Air Peace left him stranded at an airport for hours on Wednesday.
“Very terrible. The worst airline on the planet with even worse customer service. @FAAN_Official, we have been stuck in Abuja for hours. No info. They don’t even have an arrival ETA. Help passengers from this “anyhowness” (and) investigate (how) Air Peace is wasting people’s time,” he shared on X.
@devflair_ posted, “Can’t forget the day I was flying to Abuja for an interview. They kept rescheduling a flight that was supposed to leave in the morning until it got to 4 pm or so. Literally sat at the airport for hours. Air Peace is terrible.”
“Once Air Peace changes your flight time, just have it in mind that chances of your flight being cancelled is 80%,” @pretti_chicala posted.
This flight is supposed to be for 6 am today, it was shifted to 11am,now 4.30pm, and it’s still on sale at 12.21pm.Another friend is in the airport as I type this.It’s unfair and a madness pic.twitter.com/O0FAdlolpK— Tochukwu (@Tokwonna) September 25, 2024
A Lagos State resident, who flew with the airline from Kaduna to Lagos using a round-trip ticket, also shared their experience with FIJ on Wednesday.
“My flight from Lagos to Kaduna with Air Peace scheduled for last Friday was cancelled permanently a day before the flight. I had to reroute to Abuja, though with no cost,” said the customer who asked not to be named.
A snapshot showing some part of the Lagos State’s resident’s flight details.
“I was already anticipating they could do the same thing with my return trip. However, that did not happen but something close to that happened. The return flight was supposed to take off at 2:55 pm, but they changed it to 4:15 pm.”
“They wasted my time without any compensation. But if you switch roles, and it was a customer that came a minute late to the airport, they would charge an additional cost to put them on another flight. It is unfair.”
Attempts to get the company’s comment on this story were unsuccessful. All the airline’s three phone numbers written on a complimentary customer meal package were unreachable at 2:45 pm when FIJ dialled them on Wednesday.
A network provider said, “We apologise, this number cannot receive calls at the moment. Please try again later.”
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Another customer helpline (+2342013438133) copied from Air Peace’s website did not link FIJ to any customer agent.
Three phone numbers written on a passenger complimentary meal box by Air Peace.
However, the airline had asked some of the customers to reach out to it via X for further assistance on their complaints.
“Dear customer, we sincerely empathise with you over any inconvenience such actions cause to your plans. They are never intentional and only due to operational reasons beyond our control. Kindly follow our handle to enable us send you a DM for further assistance,” the airline said in response to @Johnthepunting’s complaint.
The airline also posted an update blaming the delays on the rain in Lagos on Wednesday. It also said that it cancelled some flights due to “unscheduled aircraft maintenance”.
Air Peace’s Flight Operations Update on Wednesday.
Nigerians on X have also been complaining about increasing airfares recently due to the cost of living crisis plaguing the country.
Others suggested that low customer inflow could be responsible for frequent flight delays and cancellations by local airlines.
The post Customers Call Out Air Peace Over Last-Minute Flight Cancellations appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.
