Victor EzejaThe largest Nigerian career, Air Peace, has debunked another report circulating on social media which alleged that its aircraft that flew from London to Lagos on Monday, 8 April, was overbooked and left some passengers at Gatwick Airport.
In a video circulating on social media purportedly recorded by someone who claimed to have accompanied a passenger who booked the flight, the person alleged that Air Peace closed the check-in counter before closing time because the aircraft was overbooked.
In a statement signed by the Air Peace management, the airline described the narrative as “a deliberate and malicious attempt to tarnish the image of Air Peace.”
Part of the statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a video circulating on social media that Air Peace not only abandoned their passengers at Gatwick Airport but closed their counter before closing time because the aircraft was overbooked on our London-Lagos flight on Monday, April 8, 2024.
“This video recording was a deliberate and malicious attempt to tarnish the image of Air Peace.”
The airline said the passenger whom the narrator in the video accompanied to the airport came “very late” after check-in had ended.
It explained that Gatwick Airport authorities give slots for check-in operations to every airline according to their flight schedule and all their passengers were adequately informed ahead of time about the flight time through text messages sent 24 hours, 14 hours, and 6 hours before flight departure.
“We want to state categorically that the passenger, who the narrator escorted to the airport, came very late after the check-in phase was already concluded and the counter had closed,” the airline said.
“Gatwick Airport operates by slot timings allocated to each of the airlines operating out of this airport. The check-in operations of airlines are slot-based, and airlines take turns based on their approved times. Once your slot timing is up, you must vacate the counters for the next airline’s utilization. The check-in process ends at 09:00 am, as advised in the Terms and Conditions section of our e-ticket and website, and the counter was vacated by Air Peace in accordance with our slot allocation at 09:55 am.
“To ensure passengers do not miss their flights, we send them multiple messages at different times before their flight – 24hrs, 14hrs and 6hrs before flight departure.”
It further stated that the departure time for the flight was scheduled for 11:10 am, and that “all processes needed to adhere to this time.”
“It was also claimed that we overbooked our flight. The UK Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority can attest to the number of passengers on our manifest for the said flight.
“The aircraft left Gatwick with some seats unoccupied, so no overbooking took place.
“Gatwick Airport has CCTV coverage showing the time the passenger arrived at the airport/Air Peace counter and the time the maker of this video got to the airport.
“The late arriving passenger duly paid the no-show fee, and was booked to travel on a subsequent flight, and therefore the issue was resolved at the airport. It is disappointing that a different version of what transpired has been circulating.
“Air Peace will continue to do its best to meet the needs of our passengers, but we also require passengers to work with us to ensure they can travel to their destinations by adhering to specified times. As always “Your Peace is Our Goal.”
Prime Business Africa recalls that Air Peace began its flight operations to Gatwick Airport London on Saturday, 30 March, becoming the first Nigerian airline to resume operation on the route after seven years. Many Nigerians expressed their willingness to patronize the airline which is said to be offering cheaper tickets on the London routes.
Due to overwhelming demand, the airline last week announced that it would increase capacity which means making more seats available for the London route and thanked Nigerians for their massive support.
Another media report that circulated earlier, claimed that Air Peace left some passengers behind at the Owerri airport on Sunday. The airline also countered the report saying the passenger making such a claim might have come late when check-in operations had closed. It advised passengers to always adhere to the time scheduled for every flight.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
