For me, it's undisputeably Bellview. Apologise to people who work with or have relatives who work with that airline.
They say if the preferable is not available, then the available will be preferable. That's my case.

My grouse on one single flight to the UK (26/08/09):

1.They leave about 2hrs behind schedule without any official explanation or apologies to passengers

2. They loan a plane that is so claustrophobic, you need to struggle for every inch of space-even forthe arm rest

3. Before take-off, it was so hot, it felt like a "danfo"

4. The food was miserably embarrassing. White rice and stew with some crazy carrots. You could count the diced carrots. The quantity and packaging was so poor, it was as if people didn't deserve the food.

Then, they brought a bogous card box. Opening it was a slice of cake. I thought if the reduced the size of the boxes, then they could improve the quality of the food.

5.Drinks was served, sorry SHARED for everyone in those white disposable cups and many cups were half filled. What happened to even the smallest size of can packed drinks.

6. It is only on an international flight like Bellview that passengers will "seat any how" disregarding seat numbers.

7. The loaned plane is called euro merridean. Foreing crew with one naija cabin lady. You could hardly pick a word from the announcement.

8. In-flight entertainment-zero

9. Let me stop here.

You might say all that matters is arriving safely, yes but the landing wasn't that great and the entire experience made it worse.

It was simply a Lagos-PH standard that was exhibited on the day.

NEVER AGAIN!

I expected you to list something better.
The characteristics you listed above are exhibited by other airlines as well

this was a continental flight?

As someone that is used to flying any next available flight(no preference) I have flown Bellview a number of times on domestic routes and I have not had any bad experience. Virgin is the only airline that I have had some unsavoury experience with. For now,I give Bellview passmark.

Nothing works once it is associated with Nigeria/Nigerians.
They say its a failed state.
How long do we have to wait for this state to eventually fail?
I think its the earlier the better.
I weep for our father land.

lucky people, ask pilgrims what they experience(both Muslim and Christians) Last Hajj some Lagos bound -Ogun State pilgrim to be precise were abruptly dropped in Kano. No care for human live, hospitality is zero,

Horrible experience with bellview, the first time I took it was also my last.
From london to Lagos, it was ok, the food was horrible but that I can deal with.

From Lagos back to London, the flight was cancelled, I was not informed about this at all. Infact I called the number my agent gave me a couple of days before and I was told everything was fine,
I got to lagos (which is almost 5 hrs from Ilorin) only to be told the flight was cancelled they said a text was sent to me but somehow I never got the text and the next flight was a good 2 days later.
The food was horrible as usual

I always stick with Klm nowadays. Food is far more better and it is a much more comfortable airline really.

@Hortongate. truly, there is no excuse for poor service & after having flown to Village Airports in Europe this summer, i conclude that even though Airlines generally in this recession period leave much to be expected, there is something wrong with the average Nigerian Service provider.

I bought a Virgin Atlantic Ticket for my 2 year old daughter @ =N=202,000 ds summer, Common Virgin Kids Backpack, she was not given on d Los-LHR leg. I asked for it & d excuse was, they didnt brng from London,,, so i waited for her return journey, she still wasnt given.

As for the food. you really cant blame them because its a Nigerian company ASL that cooks the food for the Airlines. The food on VA was crap as well.

I flew EasyJet from Gatwick to Montpellier & back, Nothing to complain about, in fact they went about their work professionally.

I flew B.A. to Barcelona & back, paid for a Full seat for my daughter but they still made her sit on her mother's lap in a Sardine Tin like plane called Boieng757. Am asking for my refund sha. Refreshments was not a problem & they were safety conscious.

Having said all of this, we need to wake up concerning Customer service in Nigeria

Bellview is fu.cked up

what do you expect from a nigerian company? You are even lucky that the waiting was only for few hours.
For me anything BELLVIEW,ARIK on international route,count me out.
I flew Emirated the last time i travlled to Uk and it was a pleasant experience though the distance is  longer cos u have to pass through dubai.
maybe u should try it

I used to be a very frequent flyer, and flew so many different airlines that i lost count. Virgin, SAA, BA, Lufthansa, Klm, Continental, Flybe etc (on the international side). Locally and within Africa, I have flown bellview, chanchangi, Slok, Camair, SAA, Aero, Virgin Nigeria.

One thing i have tried to do thus far is to fly ONLY International Airlines on international long haul flights. Airlines like Bellview and co are a no no. I was to travel to DRCongo once and was told to fly with SAA (6hrs). We would have landed in South Africa first and then i would have gotten a connecting flight to Kinshasa (2hrs). I decided to try Camair (Cameroon Airlines) cos it had a shorter time span (4hrs). Mistake. They substituted with Slok and were over 3 hours late. When they eventually came, they decided to do the Molue run and land in every country between Nigeria and Kinshasa (about 4 stopovers). While this was happening, there were no apologies and no food. Mind you, the flight was supposed to be a straight flight.

However (unfortunately) as a Nigerian, i always take what i can get - in terms of customer service. I have flown these international guys internationally, and have been very dissapointed. I have received the kind of treatment you received with the bellview airlines but maybe not as bad. On Virgin Atlantic once, we flew 3 hours out of Heathrow and the plane developed a fault midair. I dont know about airline rules and all that but would you believe that the pilot flew back to Heathrow - another 3 hours in a faulty plane - while the plane shook and jerked all the way? if that was not bad enough, their engineers embarked on a 'repair' process IN THE DARK after we landed and we sat in the plane for another 2 - 3 hours. They did all this without any SINCERE apologies.
Of course, people started grumbling and murmuring and i laughed to myself thinking, 'how many of them get any better service in our society here in Nigeria'? Our customer service levels are very very poor.

I do agree that it is difficult for a lot of businesses to keep up to 100% excellent service all the time hence, i give them a little 'leeway' many times - when i think they are falling short, That said, i would like to say that the service i receive on the Nigerian owned businesses is the worst so far - and i am not saying this to make people laugh. There is something about our customer service that is very poor. The hostesses always talk to you as if they are doing you a favour. Even when you find them on Virgin Atlantic flights, they always have that attitude of 'i am better than you' and try to talk down at you  atimes.

However my bros, if you are on long haul flights, always try to stick with the international carriers. The probability that you will get poor service is lower than if you fly bellview

Joke apart and this is a true story,

Never, never and never will i fly bellview in this very one life i'm into, haa never again.

About 18 months ago i needed to fly to Lagos fast in order to check how well my project was going. Luckily i happened to get a bargain with Bellview for £385 instead of BA which was for £503 at the time. To cut story short, at take off and i mean take off not middle of the journey the plane shook drastically, immediately i lost control of myself in fact about 4 ladies passed out for some minutes.

Now at the middle of the whole journey, i dont even know wether it was turbulence or the plain couldn't just get its balance i lost control again because it was worst than ealier and finally on landing at muri it was beyond explanation i just have to thank God.  

All GLORY BE TO GOD for safe journey and had to come to London by KLM.

Bellview ke?

Bellview has serious issues and it's a mystery that people still bother to patronize them. It's always better to stick with a globally recognized airline on an international trip.

Why risk your life in a flying danfo?

BELLVIEW? I DONT LIKE THE NAME. STAY WITH BA

Back in 2007 i heard an advert on the Radio, 'Birdflu' to London 70k, I said to myself, whoa! that so cheap like i can do that,  So i jump on the thingy to London thinking shebi na to reach there, NO one will know you came through 'Birdflu'

As soon as i stepped into the "flying danfo" (quoting qblaze lol) I knew this was a Big mistake, Projector for entertainment?Never have i seen anything like dat, Food? I didn't bother touching that crap. I tried to sleep but sleep no come, the noise from the engine was tooooooooooooooooo much !! It was a nightmare and to top it off i paid 70k..'Awwuf dey tear belle  ' my cousin told me when i narrated my story to him and I agree, I will never try it again!

Oh, 1 more thing,as soon as we got off in London, I threw my return ticket away ! Got V.A. back and joined the flying club since and it's been amazing all through,  Virgin rocks ! 'Birdflu' sucks!

haaaa bellview ke? never again in my life,
i had to travel to lagos last summer n of cos being a student n since i was paying for my ticket this time around i had to buy a cheap one so i opted for bellview instead of virgin which i fly wit all d time, my parents laughed at me sayin "cheap thing dey pain belle" n all dat,
neways travellin to lagos was ok but it  felt like i was in a danfo tho, as in a molue, everyone fightin for one thing or d other, to make it worse i had a brother sittin next to me who wouldnt stop talkin n to make it worse he had bad breathe, i just wanted to sleep cos d entertainment was minus zero -0, lol, i remembered i kept prayin for journey mercies cos there were sometimes d plane was shaking n i got really scared, it wasnt even funny,

to cut d long story short, i was due to fly bk 2weeks after n i called 2days b4 my dep date just to confirm n they said everythin was fine only to get to d airport to find out flight was cancelled dat we should come bk d next day,
went bk d next day n d queue was long as hell, never seen dat kinda queue b4 in my entire life, neways after all dat sufferin n waitin in d line n all dat, we had to wait another 3hrs b4 we finally left lagos, their excuse was dat they had to refuel d plane, i mean who does dat?? shouldnt d plane have been ready hours b4 departure?? it was a very bad experience, food was disgusting, seats were so uncomfortable n dirty, it was so hot felt like their air conditioning wasnt workin n i just had to force myself to sleep prayin to get bk to my base in one piece,
I WILL NEVER FLY BELLVIEW AGAIN, NEVER!!!!

Yets!:

haaaa bellview ke? never again in my life,
i had to travel to lagos last summer n of cos being a student n since i was paying for my ticket this time around i had to buy a cheap one so i opted for bellview instead of virgin which i fly wit all d time, my parents laughed at me sayin "cheap thing dey pain belle" n all dat,
neways travellin to lagos was ok but it  felt like i was in a danfo tho, as in a molue, everyone fightin for one thing or d other, to make it worse i had a brother sittin next to me who wouldnt stop talkin n to make it worse he had bad breathe, i just wanted to sleep cos d entertainment was minus zero -0, lol, i remembered i kept prayin for journey mercies cos there were sometimes d plane was shaking n i got really scared, it wasnt even funny,

to cut d long story short, i was due to fly bk 2weeks after n i called 2days b4 my dep date just to confirm n they said everythin was fine only to get to d airport to find out flight was cancelled dat we should come bk d next day,
went bk d next day n d queue was long as hell, never seen dat kinda queue b4 in my entire life, neways after all dat sufferin n waitin in d line n all dat, we had to wait another 3hrs b4 we finally left lagos, their excuse was dat they had to refuel d plane, i mean who does dat?? shouldnt d plane have been ready hours b4 departure?? it was a very bad experience, food was disgusting, seats were so uncomfortable n dirty, it was so hot felt like their air conditioning wasnt workin n i just had to force myself to sleep prayin to get bk to my base in one piece,
I WILL NEVER FLY BELLVIEW AGAIN, NEVER!!!!

LOOOOOL

on each of these lines mentioned, both local and international ones, i have had good and bad experiences.
one of my best flights ever was a VA flight.
my worst ever was a Bellview flight but i have heard people who had good experiences on their flights.
they all have their bad days. it is all about the regularity or rate of bad days.
I will never fly a local airline for an intwernational flight and that is because i do not think they are reliable enough in terms of safety and quality of service.
2ndly, i do not think the difference in fare is worth it.
the important issue in air travel is customer satisfaction = customer retention = loyalty.
Just one bad experience is able to put you off an airline for ever.
That is one area i have been disappointed with Virgin Nigeria. they seem to be chewing more than they can swallow.
On several occassions i have been militant and aggressive to their people at various terminals.
either the flight is delayed for hours or luggages got missing or flight was cancelled arbitrarily.
I mentioned this to a friend and he said he can stand Virgin Nigeria but that Arik is a no go for him.
He finds the staff both on board and on ground to be rude , uncouth and abusive.
there you go, one man meat ----------

I prefer Airfrance any day any time, but the last trip on my way back to london from Nigeria was so scary i almost pissed in my pants, it was a night flight as well, the plane shook violently for like 5minutes after take off, may be it was turbulence sha and to make the matter worse, a baby was ill in the plane and went into convulsion , , evryone was scared and some people were already skarbashing saying their last prayers to make heaven this was jus after the recent airfrance disaster,
i guess all planes have their bad days and good days,

Since Bellview is Nigerian,

OMG! This is really not funny, have not had the opportunity of taking alot of foreign flights so i really can't tell the difference. But on the local route i have tuned my mind to the fact that anything goes because this is Nigeria, so i don't bother to worry. lol

I recently flew Arik from Lagos to London.
Apart from a few organisational snafus, surprisingly the flight was really smooth. The planes are very modern, the leg room is superb, and the crew were reasonably professional, thought a bit haphazard at times.
On the whole it wasn't a bad experience.

The people complaining about shaking planes are obviously not frequent fliers. PLANES shake. Get wit it okay!!!!!

BA is also crap, their staff are morally bankrupt and their food rubbish, the only assurance u get is that the plane is not likely to fall off from the sky quite unlike VN,AFIKUN IYA[AFRIQAIR} and BELLVIEW.

Please spare me about Bellview being Nigerian = Failure etc. What a load of bollocks. For the price you paid for your ticket, what did you expect? VIP treatment? How can you pay £320 for a Lagos - London flight, and expect to be comfortable? Did you pick the airline because of the price, or because of the comfort? If you wanted comfort, why didn't you fly first class with BA? Did they not deliver the services advertised (i.e fly you to your destination). So what are you complaining about? Lagos to PH, 45 minutes flight, and you are complaining about food. Didn't you eat before you left the house?


Sometimes people never seize to amaze me! In England, Ryanair is exactly the same. They charge £10 for their short-haul flights, and they don't even provide any in-flight entertainment or food. If you want food, you would be paying extra - something like £4 for a watery cucumber sandwich and £1 for a can of coke. Their seats are squashed together and all the armrests are threadbare, and you can see the foam inside. They were even talking about removing the seats and putting stools so that they can fit more people in - Just like a molue. And this is an Irish-owned airline. But then again, why complain when you only paid £10 for your flight? If you paid £10 and they gave you nice seats, complimentary champagne and satellite TV, would they be able to run the business? Would they not go out of business, and you be forced to go to the more expensive ones?

ogogoro:

Please spare me about Bellview being Nigerian = Failure etc. What a load of bollocks. For the price you paid for your ticket, what did you expect? VIP treatment? How can you pay £320 for a Lagos - London flight, and expect to be comfortable? Did you pick the airline because of the price, or because of the comfort?

If you wanted comfort, why didn't you fly first class with BA?

Did they not deliver the services advertised (i.e fly you to your destination). So what are you complaining about?

Lagos to PH, 45 minutes flight, and you are complaining about food. Didn't you eat before you left the house?


Sometimes people never seize to amaze me! In England, Ryanair is exactly the same. They charge £10 for their short-haul flights, and they don't even provide any in-flight entertainment or food. If you want food, you would be paying extra - something like £4 for a watery cucumber sandwich and £1 for a can of coke. Their seats are squashed together and all the armrests are threadbare, and you can see the foam inside. They were even talking about removing the seats and putting stools so that they can fit more people in - Just like a molue. And this is an Irish-owned airline. But then again, why complain when you only paid £10 for your flight?

If you paid £10 and they gave you nice seats, complimentary champagne and satellite TV, would they be able to run the business? Would they not go out of business, and you be forced to go to the more exensive ones?

All Hail the flying Molue!!!

My advice (as of early 2008):

LOCAL FLIGHTS ; VIRGIN,ARIK

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS: STICK WITH THE INT'L CARRIERS they cost more but its worth it .

I had a nasty experience in 2006 with Bellview from Accra,I felt so hurt I wrote a letter of complaint;to show how useless they are,not even an acknowledgement , some colleagues also wrote them after similar wishy washy service;no response.

Thats when I made up my mind they are beyond useless. Never let them deceive u with low fares, its just not worth it !!

@ All

To be frank, all those that had taken Bellview have failed to confess that they all went with the airline not only because of the pay but also because of its baggage allowance of 32kg. So if you go for a cheap flight, then you ought to get some bad treatments from them.


cheers

how far:

@ All

To be frank, all those that had taken Bellview have failed to confess that they all went with the airline not only because of the pay but also because of its baggage allowance of 32kg. So if you go for a cheap flight, then you ought to get some bad treatments from them.


cheers

I don't think we ought to expect bad service, just because the flight is cheap. I'm just saying we shouldn't expect luxuries which you would otherwise get on more expensive services. Whether the flight is cheap or not, there is a standard of service which they should maintain i.e ensuring that they are not crashing planes and killing passengers, responding to customer complaints, providing safety measures for customers on board etc.