British Airways on Thursday apologised to its esteemed customers for the inconveniences they experienced in the recent delays and diversions of flights at the Lagos Airport.
Mr Kola Olayinka, the airline’s General Manager, West Africa, made the apology in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday.
Olayinka said the airline regretted the frustrations experienced and the disruptions it would have had on earlier-planned engagements of its esteemed customers.
“We would like to use this opportunity to tender an unreserved apology to our esteemed customers for the inconveniences of varying degrees, experienced these past few days.
“The situation has been a result of recent delays and diversions of flights occasioned by the inclement weather causing poor visibility at the Lagos Airport, coupled with a number of factors outside of our immediate control.
“In these unique cases, the decision to delay or divert flights were made carefully by our pilots who are well trained to handle situations like this, especially in consideration of the safety and security of our passengers and crew.
“As a people-first airline, we ensured that our customers were properly accommodated in hotels where adequate rooms were available.
“We also ensure that meals, refreshments and transport to and from the Airports were provided for their movement at the different Airports in Accra, Abuja and Lagos,” he said.
Olayinka said regrettably, in this unique case, most hotels were taken up by passengers of airlines that were earlier diverted to Abuja.
According to him, the direct result was the inadequacy of accommodation.
“To resolve this, we booked all 157 available rooms and accommodated 157 passengers,” Olayinka said.
He said the airline also ensured the safety of the remaining passengers by accommodating them in a dedicated area provided by Sheraton where it provided meals and drinks.
Olayinka noted that the Accra incident was markedly unpredictable as the delay lingered for two days due to the persisting weather condition.
“We chartered a Boeing 767 from Euro Atlantic to convey passengers from Accra to Lagos, however, a number of passengers had opted to make personal arrangements for their return.
“We would also like to use this opportunity to encourage passengers to send receipts of expenses incurred during this period to our customer relations team on standby to process the reimbursements and also attend to queries,” he said.
Olayinka assured the customers that the airline remained unwaveringly committed to the safety and comfort of every passenger and crew member.
