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My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin - Travel - Nairaland

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My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 12:06pm On Dec 15, 2021
Re: https://www.nairaland.com/6896135/passengers-visit-toilet-panic-grips

I saw the above post recently and it reminded me of similar experience I had just last month.

Here goes...


lol...

The other time it was * Airline. Abuja (ABV) to Benin (BNI). Fight was for 4PM. From 4PM, we were delayed till 5PM, no fault of the airline, Abuja Wx issues. From 5PM, it was delayed till 5:30PM.

All this time, inbound traffic was piling up above the city.

We finally boarded at around 5:45PM and after what seemed like a short boarding process, the engines kicked in and we started to taxi to the runway.

If only we Knew the Odyssey ahead,

We were No. 7 to take off and traffic was still piling behind us. Meanwhile, Abuja Control gave serious priority to inbound aircraft. Taxiing from NAIA Domestic terminal to the runway took ONE HOUR. I kid you not!!!

The worst was still to come.

Obviously, as we were in such long taxi, fuel was burning and to reduce consumption, A/C was turned off. I was drowning on my seat in my own sweat.

The lady by my side almost passed out from the blistering heat, but yet, the worst was still to come.

After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally No. 4 to take off and the Captain gleefully announced this.

As we got to No. 3, the engines revved higher and next thing, we were making a left turn! (Runway is to the RIGHT!)

As an aviation lover, I already knew we were leaving the taxi line and the thought almost sent me into a psychotic meltdown.

I was about telling the lady by my side that we were turning away from the Runway when the PA came on.

Pilot: "Dear Passengers, we apologize for the delay. Abuja Control is giving priority to inbound traffic, however we are turning back to the terminal as a Passenger is having an emergency".

I cried.

Hot tears dropped from my eyes as I could not believe I was in this situation.

At this point, it was some minutes to 7PM.

After the announcement, there was pandemonium in the aircraft, but when we saw Cabin Crew jostling to and fro the back of the Aircraft (where the pax in emergency was seated), we relaxed.

They were going from back to front to back to front, back to Back, carrying various first aid and cleaning materials.

After a while, there seemed to be calm in the storm as only one Cabin Crew was still walking about. She passed by my side and the guy at the other row tapped her to ask what was happening.

Cabin Crew: "A Passenger was DRUNK and threw up at the back!"

My already weary heart: "EXCUSE YOU??!!!!" "WE TURNED BACK TO TERMINAL FOR A DRUNK A.H.?!!!!!!!"

It sounded like an unbelievable dream, just like if you just wake up from sleep and your girlfriend tells you the Trumpet just sounded three minutes ago... and you're both still naked... on the bed grin

Half way through our journey to the terminal, we turned back into the the line. Passenger was fine and the Pilots decided to go on.

This time, we had lost our position and were back at. No. 9.

Obviously, I had no more tears to shed so I decided to accept anything that comes, no mater what it was... I wish I didn't... For we got to another taxiway and made another left turn!

It felt like we were in a simulation and honestly, I was done with the blue pill!

I wanted to wake up so badly from this nightmare but hard as I tried... I was still in this same Aircraft, same location, THREE HOURS after boarding!

PA came on again.

Pilot: "Dear Passengers, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience. We are returning to the terminal to get more fuel for the trip."

With the delay and our merry-go-rounding inside NAIA I expected this but it felt like I had taken a Fifty pound punch to the chest, from Mohammed Ali.

We crawled our way back to the terminal and by this time, it was dusk.

Air stair was brought, door opened and the Co-Pilot got down to monitor refueling. Some passengers got down to get fresh air, my tired self included.

We all stood by the mouth of the Plane while refueling process was going on.

Fifteen minutes later, we ready for take off and surprisingly, when we got to the taxiway, it was clear.

We took off in less than ten minutes and were airborne to Benin.

As a frequent flyer, I have experienced countless crazy things in the Air, including but not limited to, almost crashing in a * Airline turboprop (Wx related), mad, as in MAADDDD turbulence above the Sahara on my way from Amsterdam and other mind boggling experience but in terms of FRUSTRATING AND DISHEARTENING a person to their wit's end... the above experience takes the Crown.

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Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 12:13pm On Dec 15, 2021
PS, have you had any such crazy experiences?

I'd love to read them grin


Edit: Wow! We made front page!!! cheesy thanks to Seun and the Mod that gave us this awesome Christmas gift.

17 Likes 3 Shares

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Greyworld: 12:21pm On Dec 15, 2021
TheGreatIYANU:
PS, have you had any such crazy experiences?

I'd love to read them grin
I love the way you write. Well the few times I have flown was hassle free... I hope it remains that way for the sake of my feeble heart ❤.

123 Likes 5 Shares

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Magnoliaa(f): 12:28pm On Dec 15, 2021
grin cheesy LMAOO. This was so funny to read and it felt as if I was in the plane too.

Omo. The frustration no be small, especially their turning around and around and returning back to take off. What manner of annoyance is that?

68 Likes 3 Shares

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 12:35pm On Dec 15, 2021
Greyworld:

I love the way you write. Well the few times I have flown was hassle free... I hope it remains that way for the sake of my feeble heart ❤.

Thanks Sir. Amen to this prayer oh! This season however, it's a 50% chance, God would answer cheesy

4 Likes 2 Shares

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 12:42pm On Dec 15, 2021
Magnoliaa:
grin cheesy LMAOO. This was so funny to read and it felt as if I was in the plane too.

Omo. The frustration no be small, especially their turning around and around and returning back to take off. What manner of annoyance is that?

Thanks Ma'am! I don't wish that hell of an experience on my worst enemy.
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Magnoliaa(f): 12:44pm On Dec 15, 2021
TheGreatIYANU:
Thanks Ma'am! I don't wish that hell of an experience on my worst enemy.

Awww. E mo ni nice heart o. Me? Abi mo ti wish ni. I would wish it on them oh. I would. As long as it's not death, ko si problem. grin

3 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 12:58pm On Dec 15, 2021
Magnoliaa:


Awww. E mo ni nice heart o. Me? Abi mo ti wish ni. I would wish it on them oh. I would. As long as it's not death, ko si problem. grin

cheesy cheesy

1 Like

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by suffering: 1:08am On Dec 16, 2021
I wonder what today brings for me. I have a zero seven hundred return flight which I believe will take place at ten hundred hours or a little later. Coming into the city was a frustrating experience as my sixteen hundred flight was pushed to twenty hundred hours which later got adjusted four times into twenty three hundred hours. I’m expecting the same inconvenience this morning.

2 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 10:36am On Dec 16, 2021
suffering:
I wonder what today brings for me. I have a zero seven hundred return flight which I believe will take place at ten hundred hours or a little later. Coming into the city was a frustrating experience as my sixteen hundred flight was pushed to twenty hundred hours which later got adjusted four times into twenty three hundred hours. I’m expecting the same inconvenience this morning.

Lol... 7 hours delay?! Must have been traumatic for you guys.

2 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by suffering: 10:57am On Dec 16, 2021
TheGreatIYANU:


Lol... 7 hours delay?! Must have been traumatic for you guys.
The thing tire all of us, I no go lie. We got so desensitized that every postponement was met with thunderous laughter.

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Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 11:39am On Dec 16, 2021
suffering:
The thing tire all of us, I no go lie. We got so desensitized that every postponement was met with thunderous laughter.

LMHO! Wetin Naija airlines don do us sha!!!
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by kingreign(m): 2:01pm On Dec 16, 2021
suffering:
The thing tire all of us, I no go lie. We got so desensitized that every postponement was met with thunderous laughter.

Lol. I recall one time I flew to PH from Abuja. It was suppose to be a morning flight by 10am, eventually, we left by 4:30pm. E for better if person been follow road.

23 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by suffering: 8:22pm On Dec 16, 2021
kingreign:


Lol. I recall one time I flew to PH from Abuja. It was suppose to be a morning flight by 10am, eventually, we left by 4:30pm. E for better if person been follow road.
Exactly what I kept telling myself throughout the ordeal. I can deal with the associated body pain from long road travels. Anyway, the convenience of air travel was appreciated at the end as I felt really fresh on finally reaching the destination.

5 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by suffering: 8:28pm On Dec 16, 2021
Update: My flight went smoothly. It seems morning flights are the priority for Nigerian airlines. By 6:45 a.m. we were called for boarding towards the appointed 7:00 a.m. journey. In the airplane we spent an extra 45 minutes waiting for latecomers, other departing planes and finally making all preparations before we took off. I had zero complaints at the end of the day. It seems morning flights are what I’ll pick whenever considering journeys. Once in a while I’ll journey by road, but if the money is there I’ll spend it without thinking twice.

26 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by otokx(m): 10:12pm On Dec 16, 2021
Nigerians are masters in frustration.

1 Like

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by kingreign(m): 11:22am On Dec 25, 2021
otokx:
Nigerians are masters in frustration.

Lol, I booked a return ticket Ibom air ticket for 2 passengers on 29th Nov. On December 4th, I decided to reschedule my flight, the whole process to reschedule the flight was a nightmare due to their web page having poof user friendly interface. I couldn't see my own personal booking reference and despite calls and mails, nothing came fruitful, I spent ₦11,000 extra to reschedule, only for their mail to eventually come and their call centre to call me, and then asked me what I intended to do. I told them clearly I want to reschedule my flight to 21st December while the passenger that I co-booked stick to her 14th December flight. Alas, I was made to pay additional ₦37,000 (to be on Premium Seat cos no more economy seats left) and they effected the change to 21st December 14:00hrs flight.

Suddenly, they for whatsoever reasons known to them, decided to bring the flight time to 12:00hrs.

On 21st December at about 02:00hrs (2am), they sent a mail that the flight is now 11:00hrs. This made me quickly reschedule all I had planned for and even abandon some other tasks lined up so as to meet with the new time.

Got to airport and checked in my luggage, and proceeded to board the aircraft. The flight was smooth and we landed in Uyo at 13:00hrs approx. We waited for more than 1 hour to retrieve our luggage and when we didn't see any sign of our luggage coming, we decided to start questioning. Then a representative of Ibom air came and informed us that they left our luggage in Abuja. Was the aircraft cabin area filled?
No!

Why was our luggage left behind?
Flimsy reasons.

I had to spend another ₦5,000 for Bolt to go pick up my luggage that evening by 8pm.


Totally terrible experience.

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Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 8:13pm On Dec 25, 2021
kingreign:


Lol, I booked a return ticket Ibom air ticket for 2 passengers on 29th Nov.

grin same thing happened to me internationally but they had solid excuse, aircraft was fully booked and we had probably exceeded weight limitations. However I can't understand why this happened to you on a flight that was not fully booked

1 Like

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by kingreign(m): 9:08pm On Dec 25, 2021
TheGreatIYANU:


grin same thing happened to me internationally but they had solid excuse, aircraft was fully booked and we had probably exceeded weight limitations. However I can't understand why this happened to you on a flight that was not fully booked

I don't know my dear. I said it wasn't fully booked because there were up to 8 empty seats on the business class seating areas (the bombardier Crj900 seats up to 20 passengers in business class).

2 Likes

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Ishilove: 10:01pm On Dec 25, 2021
suffering:
The thing tire all of us, I no go lie. We got so desensitized that every postponement was met with thunderous laughter.
Typical Nigerian coping mechanism to stress. When the going gets tough, we turn everything to joke which is why we are globally known for our resilience. Dem use suffering train us

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Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by TheGreatIYANU: 12:21pm On Dec 26, 2021
kingreign:


I don't know my dear. I said it wasn't fully booked because there were up to 8 empty seats on the business class seating areas (the bombardier Crj900 seats up to 20 passengers in business class).

Na waa!
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by kingreign(m): 12:32pm On Dec 26, 2021
TheGreatIYANU:


Na waa!

Na so we see am.

Dem dey use us do anyhow na.
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by slawormiir: 5:46pm On Dec 26, 2021
Damnnn niggar
Isoright

If not for bandit and kidnappers

Wetin person dey use airplane do

8 Likes 1 Share

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Falzxo(m): 5:47pm On Dec 26, 2021
How many hours from Lagos to Benin by road now
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by GboyegaD(m): 5:47pm On Dec 26, 2021
Not really but one I encountered and promised myself to avoid any connecting flight through Charlotte although this was about a decade ago.

It was on a summer morning and we had too many airplanes about taking off. We spent almost 45minutes before it got to our turn. I think when we got to the runway, another airline were the ones given clearance and until all their planes had gone before AA planes started flying.

For the most of it though, I sleep off once we are about taxiing except it is an airport in flying off from for the 1st time.

1 Like

Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by BAZayo: 5:47pm On Dec 26, 2021
Nawa oh
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Agricmoney(m): 5:48pm On Dec 26, 2021
lol


Anyway, Agriculture is life
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by MANNABBQGRILLS: 5:48pm On Dec 26, 2021
Interesting

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Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by tradepunter: 5:49pm On Dec 26, 2021
Ok
Re: My Four-hour Flight From Abuja To Benin by Realestatevixen: 5:50pm On Dec 26, 2021
Hmmm

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