The tales of a highly volatile economic stability of Nigeria and social embarrassment continues to tell itself around the globe. Information reaching 247ureports.com indicate that the Lagos bound Arik Air flight from John F. Kennedy [JFK] Airport in New York failed to arrive and/or takeoff from the airport for the scheduled 12:20pm flight [three times a week – Monday, Thursday and Saturday] for three days – leaving over 500 passengers [both Thursday and Saturday passengers] littered at the airport in New York.
As gathered, the passengers who had gathered at the Arik Air terminal for their scheduled check-in were hit with the shock of their lives. Some of the passengers who had traveled from across the country [USA] from as far as Maryland and Virginia were told that the flight had not arrived the airport.
247ureports.com is not certain of the reasons behind the embarrassing event. But some of the passengers told our reporter that the aircraft had originally arrived JFK Airport on Thursday for the scheduled flight on Thursday. The passengers who had check-in for the flight were said to have boarded the flight headed for Lagos but were told to disembark shortly after the aircraft was loaded. The management of Arik Air indicated that the Aircraft was experiencing technical difficulties and thus could not fly.
The passengers were told to disembark and were directed to a nearby hotel. Arik Air picked up the cost of the hotel stay.
Interestingly, as Saturday [today] came about and another scheduled flight of Arik Air was about to begin checking-in, the passengers who were checked-in at the nearby hotel on Thursday began arriving the Arik Air Terminal ready to board the aircraft only to be told that the aircraft still is not ready to travel to Lagos. This was as the Saturday passengers were arriving to check-in for the scheduled 12:20pm flight.
“There are 500 passengers stranded here at the airport” said a one of the stranded passengers who was scheduled to join a connecting flight from Lagos to Enugu. But have missed the connecting flight as a result of the Arik Air debacle. “I will ask Arik Air to provide me with another flight to Enugu“.
Attempts to speak to the management at Arik Air proved impossible. But a low ranking staff on Arik Air who is not authorized to speak on behalf of Arik Air told 247ureports.com that another flight have been sent from Lagos to New York to freight the stranded passengers to the destinations. The staff hinted that the ugly situation may have resulted from dire financial straits on the Airline company.
