Passengers Stranded At PHIA Over Airline’s Poor Services

Some Abuja-bound passengers that intended to fly with Dana Airline were last Tuesday stranded at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa over what they described as poor service and non-availability of aircraft.
They also lamented the recent turn out of events in the operations of the airline, especially in this new year, which to them was quite unusual.
Reacting to the situation at the airport, one of the affected passengers who had purchased his boarding pass from the airline, Hon. Tammy Dickson, said he had high regard for the airline because of its promptness in operations.
He said that he always patronised the airline over the years, but that recent time the airline operators seem to be slacking on their duties, and seem to toe the path of other airlines that are out of operations.
Also, one of the Dana passengers, and a former speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, who was very reluctant to speak to The Tide on the matter, expressed concern over the disappointment especially as it affects the assignment he was going for in Abuja.
According to him, it is the duty of the airline operators to take good care of their passengers in the event of delay, pointing out that such is what is obtainable in developed countries.
“In the case of Nigeria, it is a different thing, even when there is visible disappointment on the side of the airline operator, nobody cares. It is even different to get the refund,” he said.
It was a very bad experience for the Abuja-bound Dana Air passengers, on Tuesday, whose flight was scheduled to leave Port Harcourt at 8.00am but was delayed till 9.30am.
Before 9.30am, there was another announcement that the flight would be delayed for one hour due to operational reason, and at this point some passengers began to get worried.
Suddenly at about 10.20am, there was another announcement that the flight had been re-scheduled to leave Port Harcourt airport by 12.30pm, a situation which prompted some passengers to begin to look for alternative means to get to their destination.
As at 2.30pm, there was no such flight for boarding for Abuja passengers and there was no known reason for such incident made known to the public.
The Port Harcourt Station Manager of Dana Airline, Mr. Francis Ofangba, could not be contacted, as he had earlier told The Tide that he would no longer speak on any matter concerning the airline.

Colins Walter