Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, has explained the video making the rounds, where passengers were rushing to board one of its flights from Abuja to Lagos on Friday, saying that the passengers did not wait for boarding call but rushed into the aircraft.
The airline explained that bad weather occasioned by harmattan haze forced it to delay its flights from Abuja.
It however stated that it later deployed three aircraft to airlift the passengers.
In a statement by Ejike Ndiulo, Head, Corporate Communications, Air Peace it explained that on the day in question, there were flight delays because of poor weather conditions, specifically harmattan-induced haze and fog, which it said was common at this time of the year, and which significantly limits visibility and impacts flight operations nationwide.
According to Ndiulo, to ensure that passengers continued their journeys with minimum disruptions, it deployed three aircraft to Abuja to evacuate all the passengers.
“While processing them for their flights at the boarding gate, passengers overwhelmed both the FAAN and boarding officers and rushed to the airside. Duty managers and ramp officials then had to mount barricades in front of the motorized step to differentiate passengers on flights.
“While we empathise with you, our loyal customer, we condemn in very strong terms the misinformation, insults and deliberate falsehood disseminated in the video post. Such representations are not reflective of our values or operations.
There is no truth in the allegation, and we urge the public to disregard the report in all its entirety,” he said.
He said the video post was designed by some faceless individuals with the intent of misleading the flying public to cause confusion and distraction for management of Air Peace and its stakeholders including the regulators.
“We appreciate your understanding and patience during this period and sincerely regret any inconvenience these delays may have caused you. The safety of our passengers and crew is our utmost priority,” the airline added.
