Med-view Airline has appealed for the understanding of its international passengers on the London Gatwick and Dubai routes over delay/cancellation of its flights.
The Airline explained in a statement by its chief operating officer Mr. Michael Ajigbotosho stated that their flight VL 2101 out of London to Lagos on Friday December, 22 which has about 300 passengers on board returned back to Gatwick after departure as a precautionary measure taken by the Pilot- in – Command (PiC) in line with Aviation Standard and Recommended Practices.
Ajigbotosho explained that: “This led to cancellation of the flight as the aircraft was declared AOG (Aircraft On Ground). The passengers were catered for, they were lodged in a hotel and those who decided to go back home were also taken care of. After the aircraft was declared AOG, we had to wait for a maintenance report. The aircraft had to remain on ground until a certified expert carries out the necessary checks and certify that the aircraft is airworthy”.
He lamented that the holiday compounded the problem.
The COO said in line with that confirmation, the Airline decided to seek for a relief flight and tried as much as possible go get the approval from both the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) of Nigeria and the CAA of United Kingdom in Gatwick.
We attest to their full cooperation and we appreciate them.
According to him: “We announced to operate three flights feeling the concern of all our passengers. On Wednesday December 27, we positioned three aircraft after securing the approval of the CAA including Nigerian authority.
Disappointingly, due to the unruly behaviour of some Nigerian passengers, the Border Force had to intervene to support the operations for crowd control purposes”.
Ajigbotosho stated that the three aeroplanes would have evacuated 700 passengers which would have normalized the situation, but the passengers compounded the situation and the airline ended up operating two flights out of three.
While appealing for the understanding of the passengers, Ajigbotosho said as much as the airline appreciate their patronage, it is apologising for the experience they went through this Christmas.
“We seek for their understanding to know that their safety comes first before any other thing.
We feel their concern and the expectations of meeting their families for the Christmas Holiday.
Our normal flights resume on Friday for London, Dubai and Jeddah,” he concluded in the statement.
