MISSING BAGGAGE THE BONE OF CONTENTION IN WRANGLE OVER TURKISH AIRLINES OPERATIONS IN NIGERIA
(Posted 14th December 2019)
Information received from Lagos suggests that Turkish Airlines was served with a flight ban order by Nigerian aviation authorities over the continued problem with passengers arriving but not their baggage.
Government statements spoke of the poor treatment Nigerian passengers receive from Turkish when it comes to such issues.
Meetings held between the two parties, in which Turkish was urged to use larger aircraft which can accommodate both passengers and their entire baggage, apparently fell on deaf ears with Turkish Airlines officials and as a result, having run out of patience, did the Nigerian authorities reportedly serve Turkish with a flight ban order until measures have been taken to remedy the situation.
It further appears from the information received from Lagos that angry passengers staged a near riot when failing to receive their baggage and Nigerian authorities cited this as a further reason why Turkish must comply first before similar incidents occur or spiral out of control.
It remains to be seen how Turkish Airlines will respond or if they will in fact operate any flights today but given the very high level of bookings, cancelling flights might further aggravate an already volatile situation and could lead to more passenger protests.
Turkish has yet to issue a formal statement on the development.
