Why our passengers were stranded in Accra, by British Airways

…apologise to customers

Mega carrier, British Airways has explained why some of its passengers were left stranded in Accra, Ghana following the diversion of flights occasioned by Harmattan haze that disrupted air travel.

For four days, many foreign had to divert flights to Lagos over inclement weather coupled with insufficient landing aids at the airport.

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International airlines like BA, Emirates, Delta, Ethiopian Airways and others lost estimated N3b to the natural phenomenon that grounded their operations into Lagos.
General Manager, West Africa, Mr Kola Olayinka in a statement yesterday, said the situation was as a result of recent delays and diversions of flights occasioned by the inclement weather that caused very poor visibility at the Lagos Airport, coupled with a number of factors outside of their immediate control.

In these unique cases, he further stated that the decision to delay or divert flights were made carefully by their pilots who are well trained to handle situations like this, especially in consideration of the safety and security of passengers and crew.

Explaining what the carrier did to secure accommodation for all the passengers, the airline chief noted that most hotels were taken up by passengers of airlines that were earlier diverted to Abuja.

His words, “The direct result was the inadequacy of accommodation. To resolve this, we booked all 157 available rooms and accommodated 157 Passengers, we also ensured the safety of the remaining passengers by accommodating them in a dedicated area provided by Sheraton where we provided meals and drinks”

He however tender the airline’s unreserved apology to its esteemed customers for the inconveniences of varying degrees, experienced these past few days.

“As a people-first airline, we ensured that our customers were properly accommodated in hotels where adequate rooms were available, meals, refreshments, and transport to and from the Airports were provided for their movement at the different Airports in Accra, Abuja, and Lagos”.

 Olayinka stated 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”.

He called on passengers to send receipts of expenses incurred during this period to their customer relations team on standby to process the reimbursements and also attend to queries.

“We remain unwaveringly committed to the safety and comfort of every passenger and crew member. That is, and will always be the priority for everyone at British Airways” .