spoilt:

 
Make you no go lost for Naija oh. I take God beg you Ajebutter Siena.  

Lol, crazy girl!

D1O:

how does one actually go about paying for an Arik air ticket in London. The online booking confirmation just tells you to pay at your nearest agent. Is that in 9ja abi in the UK. Meanwhile, their contact number na premium 08444 number (as if say I tell dem say I wan vote for Britains Got Talent).

Strange how they wont let you pay online via debit/credit card, then they force you to call premium number to get account number to pay money into, odikwa egwu ohhh.

I'm with you there - I never call premium rate numbers - why would I want to begin shelling out pots of money, even before my holiday has begun? Especially when you may be on hold for a while, while they play you crap music, or take you through options you're not interested in.

They did the same with 0870 and 0845 numbers, till BT made them free earlier this year, now they've moved over to 0844.

Thieves!

Now after about 1 and half year period Arik Air is one of the favorite airline for London to Lagos and from Lagos to London.

I have used Arik on its early days on the London-Lagos Route and I must say its the best flight I ever flown to Naija after 5 years in the UK. The plane was new and the hostess were very friendly and nice. Food was good and we got to naija on time. My only concern was the high price for changing your ticket, I had to pay USD 150 for changing to another date, other airlines charge cheaper for that. I'll encroauge others to give thema try as well. Its naija and its worth it and patronising them helps create more jobs for us!!! Lets not enriching the europeans!!!

I have used Arik on its early days on the London-Lagos Route and I must say its the best flight I ever flown to Naija after 5 years in the UK. The plane was new and the hostess were very friendly and nice. Food was good and we got to naija on time. My only concern was the high price for changing your ticket, I had to pay USD 150 for changing to another date, other airlines charge cheaper for that. I'll encrouage others to give thema try as well. Its naija and its worth it and patronising them helps create more jobs for us!!! Lets stop enriching the europeans!!!

If you plan to fly, please read the article below:

January 5, 2011
LucieA

I was shocked this afternoon at the sight I witnessed at the boarding gate for an Arik Air flight from Lagos, Nigeria. A very large group of exhausted, irritated, unkempt looking international passengers were trying to get information about their flight. They looked like they hadn’t slept in days. I was catching another flight at a different gate but I had to stop and ask them what had happened.

One tired gentleman told me that they had been at the airport since 9pm the night before, in order to catch their flight to South Africa at 11pm. However, when they came to the boarding gate, they were not allowed to enter the plane. They were not sure what the cause of the problem was and were not given any information by Arik staff. They were simply told not to leave the boarding gate area. So they sat down thinking the delay would last an hour or two and they would be on their way home. The hours dragged by.

Arik Air did not provide them with any answers, nor did they offer them hotel vouchers so they could wait comfortably for the next available flight, nor did they find them accommodation at the airport, nor did they provide meals for them or even snacks or drinking water. There is no toilet in the boarding gate area so there was no place for them to even go to the restroom or freshen up. They were not even given access to the lounge area so that they could rest. Only a few of them could find seats, the rest were sitting in their business suits on the floor.

This is how over 200 international passengers were held against their will without information, without assistance, without even food or water for more than 15 hours! It should also be noted that these TWO HUNDRED PASSENGERS were international passengers, meaning they were in a foreign country so there was no option to go back to their homes and wait for their flight information. They had no home there and had been prevented from going home for reasons unknown to them.

It is required of every airline to provide current, up to date information to their passengers. When there is a delay that is not due to the fault of the passenger, arrangements are to be made such as hotel vouchers, meal tickets, beverages and especially access to complete bathrooms!!! These passengers are human beings – not cattle! Yet they were treated without due respect.

This is not the first time Arik Air has behaved in a criminal matter. Many friends and associates have recounted stories of abuse at the hands of Arik Air. One business partner had his wallet taken from his seat pocket while he slept and $2,000 removed from it by an Arik staffer. He was the lone passenger in his row with an empty row both in front of him and behind him. The only one that could have bent over him while sleeping and been unnoticed would be the flight staff. A sister company of ours sent a team on retreat and when they arrived at their destination, the luggage for the entire flight had been left behind at the airport and there was no announcement made on board the plane before takeoff. But how can an airline leave all of the luggage on the tarmac and not load it before taking off?? That is incredulous! I believe if an inquiry is made, many more grievances, even worse than these, will be discovered.

While I was discussing with the man, an Arik staff appeared and announced the flight was now running and would be taking the TWO HUNDRED PASSENGERS to their destination. When prodded for the reason for the delay, the staffer reluctantly informed them that the delay was a lack of fuel in the plane!

This is outrageous and completely unacceptable. They have abused their position as an airline and their directors, managers and staff are not fit to run something so sensitive as an airline. We place our lives in the hands of airlines every day, trusting them to carry us safely from one location to another with our lives, our luggage and our decency in tact. Arik Air violates all of these trusts. Serious action should be taken to prevent our citizens from finding themselves trapped and abused at the hands of Arik Air.

///

chaircover:

I personally wont fly Arik because I rightly or wrongly don't have any confidence in the "naija" factor way of doing things and I rather eat rubbish food on another airline than worry throughout the flight on if their engineers did indeed carry out the correct safety checks.

That is why it appeals to me - Arik offers more than just a flight home, it's an adventure ride where anything can happen.

Funny enough, between now and March 2011 British Airways are much cheaper than Virgin and Arik. If you don't believe me look on Opodo. The only flight cheaper than BA at the moment on the London-Lagos route is KLM and of course Egypt Air if you fancy a 22 hour trip to Lagos

Why not? Spend a few hours in Cairo admiring Tutankhamen's treasures at the Museum, a nice cruise on the Nile to see the Pyramids and arrive in Lagos nice and refreshed.

But seriously, after reading an 'expose' on the terrible treatment being meted out to the Nigerian employees of Arik, I don't want any disgruntled employee sabotaging the plane and giving the passengers an extended bath in the Mediterranean.