The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has initiated an investigation into a flight delay experienced by Air France passengers in Paris on Friday.
The delay, estimated at over 14 hours, caused frustration among passengers, with allegations of disrespect and discrimination levelled against the airline.
The Nigeria-bound passengers, who are still stranded at the Paris airport as of the time of filing this report on Friday, voiced their grievances in an online video obtained by The PUNCH.
The video depicts scenes of dissatisfaction among passengers who have endured a long delay.
In response, Air France reportedly provided €15 vouchers to each passenger as compensation.
Many of the Nigerian passengers who had flown into Paris from Canada, the United States and other parts of the world, were meant to join a Lagos-bound Air France flight scheduled to depart the Charles De Gaulle Airport by 3pm.
Some of the passengers said they flew from Canada to Paris as early as 8am.
The Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Michael Achimugu, confirmed to The PUNCH that an investigation has commenced.
He said, “Usually, when complaints like this come to us, we investigate first, and once investigations have been concluded based on our findings, we will do the needful.
“All of these fall within the scope of NCAA regulations.”
Achimugu mentioned the need to hear from both the complainants and the airline before reaching any conclusions.
“We need to speak with the complainants to be able to make sense of the video. Sometimes, delays do happen, and not every complaint you hear makes the airline culpable until we listen to both parties,” he added .
One of the passengers, a pilot and Managing Director of a Nigerian charter airline-Jed Air, Capt Noggie Meggison, recounted his experience in the video, alleging that he was threatened by Air France personnel for recording the scene.
He said, “I am on a flight to Lagos with Air France, and we have been delayed for several hours. I had come in from Canada and landed at 8am on Friday.
“For the delay, we were all given vouchers of €15, and we have over 200 Nigerians who are just seated here without proper respect and compensation from Air France.
“They were only given a €15 voucher each. This is unacceptable for somebody who is facing a delay running to over 14 hours. The flight was meant to depart 3pm. Now, the airline has rescheduled it to 10pm.
“No hotel, just €15 voucher. I think it is discriminatory and unacceptable. If it’s an American flight, they will not do that. People are just sitting down here doing nothing.”
Another passenger, who simply identified himself as Adesina, lamented the ordeal of being subjected to multiple gate changes and a prolonged wait without adequate compensation.
“I came in from Vancouver, Canada, this morning. I landed around 8am, and it was around noon that we got an email that our flight had been shifted.
“Even before that, they had changed our boarding gate. We were at one far gate. We had to move to another gate and pass through security again. At the end of the day, they said they had changed our time from 3pm to 10pm.
“That’s about 14 hours plus in the waiting. After that, we went to make our complaint, and they gave us €15 voucher. This is unbelievable. I was able to buy a bottle of water and one piece of bread,” he said.
Meanwhile, some of the aggrieved Nigerians have threatened to file a class action lawsuit against Air France over what they described as the carrier’s inhuman treatment.
Some of the passengers who spoke from Paris expressed their frustration over the development.
It was, however, not clear why Air France shifted its schedules out of Paris to Lagos abruptly as efforts to reach the carrier proved abortive.
European Union rule stipulates that if flight is delayed, passengers may be entitled to financial compensation.
The amount of compensation is between €250 and €600 per passenger depending on the distance of the flight, among others.
They are also entitled to free-of-charge refreshments and beverages depending on the wait time.
Based on European Regulations No 261/2004, passenger compensation for flight delays is calculated based on the distance of the flight.
Passengers on flights that are delayed three or more hours are entitled to full compensation.
For short-distance flight delays up to 1,500km, passengers are due for €250 compensation.
For medium flight delays (within the EU) of more than 1,500km and all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres, passengers are due to get €400 compensation, while long-distance flight delays of over 3,000 kilometres are due for €600.
