Imafidon Oghenevo (pseudonym), a resident of Lagos State, has narrated how Air Peace, an airline company, caused him and some passengers to incur extra expenses on Sunday, after cancelling their flight following an earlier postponement.

Oghenevo told EQ that the first expense he incurred due to Air Peace’s poor planning was the extra 50% payment for a room he had planned to check out of by noon on Sunday. This followed the update that his Benin to Lagos flight scheduled for 4:15 pm had been postponed until 6:15 pm.

According to Oghenevo, he paid the additional 50% fee for his room because he could not leave the hotel at noon as planned. He eventually checked out at 4 pm.

READ ALSO: Air Peace Withholds Customer’s N153,400 for Four Months

He said that when he got to the Benin Airport, Air Peace staff checked all passengers for the flight to Lagos. However, they left the passengers stranded.

The message where Air Peace announced the postponement of the flight to the source

“After the operating aircraft landed from Lagos, we heard shocking news! We learnt that the pilot could not take off because the airport was dark and did not have the facilities for night take-offs,” Oghenevo said. 

“For the time wasted, they should have given us refreshments, but they didn’t. After incurring a 50% fee for staying at the hotel beyond noon, I thought that would be my biggest regret for the day until they cancelled.” 

READ ALSO: After EQ’s Story, Air Peace Releases Journalist’s N153,400 Withheld for 7 Months

Angry Air Peace passengers at the Benin Airport on Sunday evening

“When I returned to the hotel, I was told to pay for the room in full. I learnt that some people were supposed to fly a day earlier, but their flight was postponed until Sunday and then cancelled again. I asked an airline staff member why they didn’t tell us outright that they had cancelled it, but they said nothing.

“I walked out of the airport, and the cost of transportation was expensive for those of us not from Benin. We were endangering our lives. I was supposed to be in Lagos for an event, a movie premiere, but I couldn’t attend it,” he recalled.

Angry passengers protesting Air Peace’s announcement

When EQ called Air Peace for comments on the matter, a respondent asked for the passenger’s confirmation number, despite our reporter stating that their passenger’s flight for 6 pm on Sunday was cancelled after an earlier postponement.

The respondent claimed that the reason she repeatedly asked for the passenger’s confirmation number was to confirm the flight that was cancelled.
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