Isa Bayero, the uncle of Aminu Ado Bayero, Emir of Kano, is seeking punitive actions against Air Peace over refusal to delay a flight for the monarch.
This was contained in a complaint letter addressed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, on Thursday, February 24, 2022. Bayero, in the letter, described the Air Peace’s refusal as an act of “disrespect” to the Emir and the people of Kano state.
“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,” Cable quoted a part of the letter.
According to Bayero, the airline had delayed their Banjul to Lagos flight by over one hour but refused to allow them to board their connecting flight to Kano because they arrived in Lagos 30 minutes before departure time.
He said, “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 5:45 am.
“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.”
Bayero said he personally called Allen Onyema, chief executive officer of Air Peace, to inform him of the situation requesting the delay of the departing flight to Kano as a mark of respect to the “revered” Emir of Kano.
“He (Onyema) 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,” the letter adds.
Bayero expressed disappointment at Onyema’s response, saying that the delay was the fault of the airline.
He said arriving international flights, departing aircraft – local or international – were often delayed to enable arriving passengers to join.
“Why should that be different with Air Peace Airline?” he asked.
Bayero 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 7 pm.
“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 said.
Source: SaharaReporters
