Nigerian airports in the throes of efficiency; absence of interlining indicates airlines not serving the travelers- Amb. Ikechi Uko
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Ambassador Ikechi Uko, Founder, AKWAABA Tourism Trade Fair
Passengers inundated with frequent and unexplainable flight delays and cancellations have advised the airlines to up their game so as to earn travelers’ loyalty.
While managers of airports have also been admonished to provide at least a modicum of comfort for passengers and digitalize passenger facilitation with the provision of impeccable power supply for cooling passengers’ lobby and to power computers crucial for airlines to achieve on-time departure.
Speaking on behalf of Nigerian passengers and their experiences with domestic operators at the 27th edition of the annual international seminar by the League of Airport And Aviation Correspondents-Nigeria, LAAC-N, was Ambassador Ikechi UKo, the chief promoter of the famous tourism trade fair in Africa, AKWAABA.
Ikechi Uko who chose not to bore his audience during the panel discussion with myriads of experiences of Nigerians which are in the public domain, related his personal experience to the consternation of the distinguished guests at the talk shop.
He recounted his experience when he flew to Abuja and was in possession of a ticket with the same airline to travel to Portharcourt later on the same day. He said when the airline was not forthcoming, he bought a ticket from another airline to meet up with his scheduled appointment.
The following day he had to return to Abuja from Benin. The airline whose ticket was in his possession announced cancelation and he had to buy another airline’s ticket toCommandant, arrive in Abuja on schedule.
The travel management guru and an emerging icon in air cargo development now added the icing on the cake about his travel fiasco when he was to leave Abuja with a very popular airline.
Uko said the departure time from Abuja was 5 pm. Obviously, he arrived at the airport in good time for the flight. When passengers’ profiling for boarding a 5 pm flight ought to start, an announcement blared from the public address system that the flight was postponed by one hour to 6 pm.
In what sounded like a comedy at the airport, the particular flight postponement was announced six times. Uko said the last announcement came at 12 midnight when outright cancellation was announced.
Mr. AKWAABA as fondly called by the crew of AVIATION WATCH on Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1fm, said going anywhere at that unholy hour was impossible hence, compelled to pass the night at the airport.
Amb. Uko however sadly noted that he had three different airlines’ tickets yet, no other airline accept a ticket issued by another airline for the same destinationnNAMDI aZIKIWE iNTERNATIONAL aIRPORT
Bringing his experience to perspective in cognizance of the theme of the seminar, “changing times and changing strategies”, Uko sadly declared, but for a fact that, “I don’t see any system where such experience obtains that will work very well. So if you are talking about changing times and changing strategies, I don’t think we have started the discussion”, he remarked.
He however charged policy makers, and industry players to take consideration of the ultimate consumer of all the services offered in air transport value chain, passengers satisfaction.
Uko, therefore, warned, “So, anything we are discussing and we are not talking about how to improve the experience of the travelers, it’s a complete waste, because the travelers today is not being served well, he asserted.
The founder of AKWAABA lamented that his experience traveling to Ghana by air nineteen (19) years ago, was far better than what is currently obtained in the nation’s air transport system.
The business tourism expert and a protagonist of MICE as a critical factor in tourism promotion, in a no holds barred opined, “I don’t think we have started the discussion because, in 2004 when I started going to Ghana by Nigerian airlines, the experience I had then was far better than what I am experiencing now as a traveler”.
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