Whether good or bad Arik is still the best for me. I dont know where you guys are getting all these stories from.

JeSoul:

    this is just . . . stunning 

i was also stunned as well.

yes, the pilot, a polite white man, went round taking seat numbers of volunteers.

if i had not witnessed this myself and i heard this elsewhere, i would have doubted the story.

an international flight without meals for 40 passengers

opribo:

I dont believe all this unsubstantiated stories about my beloved airline ARIK, they must be coming from competitors [/b]who can not match the service excellence of ARIK and the newness of her aircraft fleet.

what competitors?
do i sound like the individual that owns virgin atlantic or other airlines that ply the London-Lagos route?

Besides, all these noise about the number of planes in their fleet. . . . . it was the same ''Captain Hayes'' branded aircraft that i flew with on the two legs of my journey (of which am guessing it was the same plane that brought people back to naija as soon as we disembarked from the plane and vice-versa). i am eager to know how many aircrafts they have designated for their lagos - london route.

[b]My return journey.

Arik was nice enough to notify me via email and text message that the arrival time of my flight had changed from 4.50pm to 7.25pm. However, what they did not include in the mail that a supposedly ''direct flight from lagos to london'' which was what i paid for, will be having a ''stop over'' at Abuja to pick other London bound passengers.

Take off time was stated as 10.05am. Over an hour later, we were still seated in the aircraft, waiting to leave for Abuja. Throughout the 45mins ''local flight'' from Lagos to Abuja, arik didnt serve any snacks or refreshments. However, they kept us filled with water and juice. We got to abuja around 12.15pm or so. We are all seated in the aircraft as we were not allowed to leave the aircraft. Finally at 2.05 pm, the pilot announced that we were about to depart. The entire two hours we were seated in the plane,  no snacks were served, no inflight entertainment. Just water and juice. Reason for the delay: they had to pick up the passengers from Abuja and they also had to fuel the plane.

We got to Heathrow around past 8pm or so. Didnt get my bags till around past 9pm or so. 

@opribo
since you are in doubt, i have attached a screen shot of the mail sent to me regarding the change in the flight times.

I have only flowned them twice from Lagos to PH and back, I do not recollect having any negative experience. Infact I concluded from that experience that it is either arik or nothing else as far as local flights are concerned.

For the negative experience posted so far, I think some of their staff simply does not know how to manage flashpoints, anybody in service industry knows that we are often faced with crisis situation one time or the other, it is left for people on the gound to manage the crisis

I guess they need to be trained and retrained.

funkybaby:

what competitors?
do i sound like the individual that owns virgin atlantic or other airlines that ply the London-Lagos route?

Besides, all these noise about the number of planes in their fleet. . . . . it was the same ''Captain Hayes'' branded aircraft that i flew with on the two legs of my journey (of which am guessing it was the same plane that brought people back to naija as soon as we disembarked from the plane and vice-versa). i am eager to know how many aircrafts they have designated for their lagos - london route.

My return journey.

Arik was nice enough to notify me via email and text message that the arrival time of my flight had changed from 4.50pm to 7.25pm. However, what they did not include in the mail that a supposedly ''direct flight from lagos to london'' which was what i paid for, will be having a ''stop over'' at Abuja to pick other London bound passengers.

Take off time was stated as 10.05am. Over an hour later, we were still seated in the aircraft, waiting to leave for Abuja. Throughout the 45mins ''local flight'' from Lagos to Abuja, arik didnt serve any snacks or refreshments. However, they kept us filled with water and juice. We got to abuja around 12.15pm or so. We are all seated in the aircraft as we were not allowed to leave the aircraft. Finally at 2.05 pm, the pilot announced that we were about to depart. The entire two hours we were seated in the plane,  no snacks were served, no inflight entertainment. Just water and juice. Reason for the delay: they had to pick up the passengers from Abuja and they also had to fuel the plane.

We got to Heathrow around past 8pm or so. Didnt get my bags till around past 9pm or so. 

I don't understand how they can get away with this?  without any sort of compensation or reimbursement to the passangers? I would be mad as hell.

@opribo
since you are in doubt, i have attached a screen shot of the mail sent to me regarding the change in the flight times.

Thank you for that. For me when story after story keep spilling out, its tough to say they're all lying or its an isolated incident. Maybe opribo works for Arik? 

ARIK ARIK ARIK, they are never on time. I have never seen an Arik flight that has ever taken off on time.  

opribo:

I dont believe all this unsubstantiated stories about my beloved airline ARIK, they must be coming from competitors who can not match the service excellence of ARIK and the newness of her aircraft fleet. I have been flying ARIK now for the past two years and I can thump my chest and say it anywhere ARIK air still remains my number one choice in the air. I have flown in their Boeing 747-800, Borbardier series and it was comfort all the way. How can any one say ARIK doesnt have enough refreshment for her passengers and we are listening to such a story or a trained steward in ARIK fleet addressing a customer as painted in the post. Please Nlanders should be discerning to know when someone is peddling lies. For the matter in the post[b] I want to believe those people that held the plane hostage most be terrorist because their action is against international civil aviation regulations.[/b]

Everyone in Nigeria knows that before you board an aircraft you must identify your luggage at the tarmac before boarding failure to do so will result in your luggage been off loaded. I believe this abokis are the ones that forgot to identify their luggage and they want to use their boko haram wisdom to terrorize my airline. I will suggest that ARIK air cease flying to that state as a punishment to those people after all they have no other airline that serves that ramshackle area.

I doubt your "love" for Arik, are you sure you are not working for one of their competitors?

If you are the Publicist Arik Air Hired to do damage control on NL, You've only succeded in confirming the allegations made by their customers.

Arik should demand their money back from you.

Your post is not just condescending, it is also dumb and uncouth, just like the image of Arik that had been painted by their customers on this thread. . .

Fail!

Very interesting.

When I went back to naija, arik was actually one of the better airlines that I flew - their customer service in ph was ok, and they sometimes departed on time, compared to aero and the others.

I have no idea about their international flights sha, would not even think of trying it.

Nothing is perfect sha, but i'm glad the passengers were finally able to stand up for their right.

And to all the clowns that will accuse me of damage control for arik - i could care less. just stating my own opinion. Their service was definitely better than any I had experienced while in naija. Not the best, but i've experienced worse. When you know your rights and you're not afraid to voice it, people will definitely listen to you. But it could have gotten worse in a couple months, who knows.

funkybaby:

JeSoul:

opribo
Shey this one too is a lie?  https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-539342.0.html

madam, I see your pic o! I dey come chop o! I dey northeast with you oo!!

@ funkybaby,
you no try sef, na old operating system you still dey use, abeg upgrade joh , hmmmm as for ARIK, I flew them from London to Lagos last december and I must be honest I was very eager to fly with ARIK cos I wanted to be:

1. Patrotic
2. Enjoy the feel of chilaxing with Nigerians 'cos I knew most people in the aircraft will be Nigerians too!

I must be honest that when we missed our flight because of the snows, (for those of you in the UK, you would recall the heavy snow of last December that closed several airports including Heathrow and Gatwick), ARIK was very professional in re-booking all of us ( both Abuja + Lagos bound passengers) on their aircraft leaving the next day. Thought there was the initial refusal by ne tall oyibno lady claiming that they would not book us on the aircraft, the Heathrow airport manager came over and insisted that He requested our names be rebooked on the aircraft and that He already reserved seats before the plan even left Lagos that morning.
However, wahala started when we were all checked in at 8pm for 10.15pm departure and the gate for ARIK was not on the departure board! However after about an hour, ARIK's name appeared but the gate number was wrong and they had to change the gate 3 times. Despite all that drama, our flight departure was delayed by an hour! Surprise! surprise, the pilot made up for the loss of time at the airport as I believe even when I was seated, the pilot was cruising at much faster speed than the nom. ALL THE MEALS SERVED ON THIS JOURNEY WAS STONE COLD! I WAS GIVEN SOMETHING THAT LOOKED LIKE PUMKIN LEAVES THAT WAS STEMMED ABOUT A DAY AGO!
The real Wahala started when I got to Lagos, at first  the ARIK lady at the arrival was very helpful, apologising that they only have one shuttle bus ( for now) to take passengers to the Local wing for onward connection of their flight and that the bus would arrive soonest. With the way the lady spoke, I wanted to give her £100 on the spot, but I decided to hold my breath first as this is Naija, dog can change to tortoise before you blink your eyes!
Finally we entered the bus, got to the local wing only to be asked to go hear, go there to redeem your ticket! By the time I finally got to the right place, the lady at the counter said she cannot redeem my ticket as the ticket was belated. A told her she was correct but that that same ticket was revalidated the night before and the office at Heathrow confirmed it that I was on the Boeing 737 Aircraft 9.05am departure flight. The lady refused to listen to my explanation, as she insisted that I must book another ticket without the assurance that I will even get a seat on any of the aircraft seats left. Even worse, right in front of me, a family was weeping because ARIK decided to cancel their flight without notifying them, even though they booked half of the seats in the aircraft for their relatives wedding! One of the old woman almost fainted as she claimed she insisted that they fly ARIK while other options were made for them!
After waiting for almost 45mins, the lady later referred me to another guy who decided to withhold my e-ticket and never bothered to address my concern!
Finally I had to play the last card on my table! I told the woman point blank that if I do not get my confirmation of ticket within the next 15mins, I will be on to phone to my lawyers in the UK, who would begin legal proceedings against Aviarep (who happens to be ARIK representative in the UK). It was then another guy came forward and asked the lady to quickly confirm my ticket as He doesn’t want any more court cases! My ticket was immediately reconfirmed and issued.
I was shocked what I found out that day; that ARIK staff told people who came to check in that the aircraft was overbooked yet at the counter, ARIK staff was still selling tickets for same flight! (that was the 1.15pm flight departure).
After the entire struggle I checked in, boarded the shuttle bus to the tarmac, only to be shocked that ARIK have changed the aircraft from the B737 to A Q400 turboprop aircraft that could only accommodate 35ppl according to the pilot. Strangely, the shuttle bus conveyed more people to the tarmac than the maximum number the plan could carry! To make the situation worse, some people were already seated in the aircraft, but unknown to them, the baggage was not in the aircraft yet! The Pilot had to announce that everybody in the aircraft should come down and identify their baggages, only for some people to discover that their luggage was not even in the tarmac! ARIK staff on ground rather than being apologetic, engages in blame game with staff of the company who ARIK does the conveying of luggage’s for ARIK.
Finally, the mini drama ended and we entered the aircraft with some people returned to the waiting area at the local wing as the number of seats available was fully occupied. Another drama started when it became clear to us that the pilot did not start the engine for pre-flight procedure! By the time we decided to find out why the pilot did not start the aircraft engines from one of the crew, He pretended as if He did not hear us, He continued serving  some chaff they call launch pack ( which basically was a small juice container and those road side cakes!). We were kept in the aircraft for well over 30mins and to the surprise of every one, the pilot open the cabin door, told us that only one of the aircraft engine was responding to start up and that He has phoned the mechanics to come check the second one!! That was when people began to panic and after couple of minutes, the mechanics guys came, did something in the cockpit and the two engines started! Then it became a problem of taking off as the pilot had to wait as He claimed that ARIK departure slot and extended time limit has since elapsed! After waiting for about 20mins, ATC finally gave the go ahead for us to depart and thank God we arrived safely!!
Now this experience has left me with serious doubts about ARIK whether they truly are in this business for long! But for the time being, I think I would stick to my Emirates even though it would cost me another 5Hrs, just mean I get to peep into Dubai!

i've always flown Emirates on international routes. Though i fly arik on domestic trips. never had a prob with their services, i still believe they're the best locally,

ARIK ARIK
My beloved carrier
always treating me nice
i wonder why bad luck dey follow all of u
arik has always been there for me

To think I was a big time Arik fan.
Why do Nigerians lack maintenance culture??

I remember my friends telling me back then to watch out for Arik. The Nigerian factor would soon affect them and sadly it has, very sad indeed

Arik is pathetic! In late August this year, I think 24th or so, a friend of mine travelling from London via Arik suffered a whole 7 hours long delay for a flight that was supposed to leave London at dust for Lagos but did not leave till the next morning thereby delaying those who were to leave on same plane from Lagos on the return leg.
The Airline did not inform them about the delay prior to the flight, No formal or informal apology by Airline or inflight crew, the public entertaiment system didn't come on through-out the flight and the cabin crew were down right nasty. He got to Nigeria and bought a BA ticket for the return trip, ofcourse lost out on the Arik ticket (He was so upset He didn't mind).


My guy, has vowed not to fly Arik even for free unless He his life were in grave danger and had no other options at all.

They once made me miss flight on purpose to Freetown and charged me $100 penalty for missing flight and $50 for rescheduling. Due to stupid Arik staff that asked me to stay on the wrong queue !!!! Yeah British stupid staff. I cursed him !

Instead of me to board aircraft with my hard earned money, i prefer to patronise molue by road and have my dignity. Supervision is weak in Arik, management is weaker.

U all should fly Danna air, its good

U all should fly Danna air, its good

lol.

@ Opribo


With all due respect to you, are u high ARIK Air doesnt have a Boeing 747. pls get yur fact straight,

The best aircraft in the ARIK fleet is the A340-500 i think, which flies frm lagos to Heathrow and bck,


but frankly speaking, as bad as ARIK air is, they are still the best and the most realiable, realiable

meaning different things to different peeps,

I have said this before and will say it again. I will take ABC Transport and Young Shall Grow over Greyhound and First Bus lines (if they were in Naija) to successfully take me from lagos to Abuja , while I will take Virgin Atlantic and Delta over Arik take me from EU and US to Nigeria. I still cant understand why people take Arik internationally. Nigerian companies are globally challenged to adhere to world's best practices.

opribo:

I dont believe all this unsubstantiated stories about my beloved airline ARIK, they must be coming from competitors who can not match the service excellence of ARIK and the newness of her aircraft fleet. I have been flying ARIK now for the past two years and I can thump my chest and say it anywhere ARIK air still remains my number one choice in the air. I have flown in their Boeing 747-800, Borbardier series and it was comfort all the way. How can any one say ARIK doesnt have enough refreshment for her passengers and we are listening to such a story or a trained steward in ARIK fleet addressing a customer as painted in the post. Please Nlanders should be discerning to know when someone is peddling lies. For the matter in the post I want to believe those people that held the plane hostage most be terrorist because their action is against international civil aviation regulations.

Everyone in Nigeria knows that before you board an aircraft you must identify your luggage at the tarmac before boarding failure to do so will result in your luggage been off loaded. I believe this abokis are the ones that forgot to identify their luggage and they want to use their boko haram wisdom to terrorize my airline. I will suggest that ARIK air cease flying to that state as a punishment to those people after all they have no other airline that serves that ramshackle area.

I did not want to post on this topic but changed my mind when i read your post.
Infact you are not being entirely truthful, either you do not fly Arik at all or you only fly the business class.
I actually joined Arik for a flight to Kaduna a month ago and experienced their famous Saga of dropping peoples bags and insurficent refreashment.

They used this very small propeller plane for the flight and later told us that some of the bags where dropped for our safety. The funny thing I noticed was that a group of late passengers who had like 4 hefty bags each all had their luggage in the flight. But those of us with one bag who were unlikely to tip for the bags had our bags dropped to make room for the big bags.

Oh, and of course I was told that the cakes were finished, so only got the last juice. The guy next to me got neither the juice, coffee nor the cake. It was so pathetic! The owner of that airline needs to check his staff before they ruin his business.

Oh again, I forgot to add that some other guy was sitting on my seat and had my eact seat number on his ticket, I was told to grab the next available seat. Thank God I did cause no sooner, the pilot annouced that he needed some good parents to volunteer thier childrens seats for about four other passenger who could not be accomodated. They got volunteers but I think the flight crew stood all the way as the children took their seats behind the cockpit. Was I afraid that the frail looking propeller plane might give up in mid air? thats another long story altogether, I just had to go since i had missed my flight the previous day so was late on my appointment.

adconline:

I have said this before and will say it again. I will take ABC Transport and Young Shall Grow over Greyhound and First Bus lines (if they were in Naija) to successfully take me from lagos to Abuja , while I will take Virgin Atlantic and Delta over Arik take me from EU and US to Nigeria. I still cant understand why people take Arik internationally. Nigerian companies are globally challenged to adhere to world's best practices.

when last did you go with ABC? The last time i travelled with ABC from Abuja to Port Harcourt we left at about 8am and arrived PH 12 midnight.That was my 3rd similar experience via road,i vowed never to travel by road again except with a private car.

Until we learn the importance of maintenance culture,these problems will keep occurring.

But my own story is positive, because i had their best service from Lagos - South Africa and i really enjoy the service render on that day, PEACE

comechop:

madam, I see your pic o! I dey come chop o! I dey northeast with you oo!!

Lol. Which part of the NE? you're welcome to come and chop proper any day my brother .

---

Omo_Tier1:

@ funkybaby,
you no try sef, na old operating system you still dey use, abeg upgrade joh , hmmmm as for ARIK, I flew them from London to Lagos last december and I must be honest I was very eager to fly with ARIK cos I wanted to be:

1. Patrotic
2. Enjoy the feel of chilaxing with Nigerians 'cos I knew most people in the aircraft will be Nigerians too!

I must be honest that when we missed our flight because of the snows, (for those of you in the UK, you would recall the heavy snow of last December that closed several airports including Heathrow and Gatwick), ARIK was very professional in re-booking all of us ( both Abuja + Lagos bound passengers) on their aircraft leaving the next day. Thought there was the initial refusal by ne tall oyibno lady claiming that they would not book us on the aircraft, the Heathrow airport manager came over and insisted that He requested our names be rebooked on the aircraft and that He already reserved seats before the plan even left Lagos that morning.
However, wahala started when we were all checked in at 8pm for 10.15pm departure and the gate for ARIK was not on the departure board! However after about an hour, ARIK's name appeared but the gate number was wrong and they had to change the gate 3 times. Despite all that drama, our flight departure was delayed by an hour! Surprise! surprise, the pilot made up for the loss of time at the airport as I believe even when I was seated, the pilot was cruising at much faster speed than the nom. ALL THE MEALS SERVED ON THIS JOURNEY WAS STONE COLD! I WAS GIVEN SOMETHING THAT LOOKED LIKE PUMKIN LEAVES THAT WAS STEMMED ABOUT A DAY AGO!
The real Wahala started when I got to Lagos, at first  the ARIK lady at the arrival was very helpful, apologising that they only have one shuttle bus ( for now) to take passengers to the Local wing for onward connection of their flight and that the bus would arrive soonest. With the way the lady spoke, I wanted to give her £100 on the spot, but I decided to hold my breath first as this is Naija, dog can change to tortoise before you blink your eyes!
Finally we entered the bus, got to the local wing only to be asked to go hear, go there to redeem your ticket! By the time I finally got to the right place, the lady at the counter said she cannot redeem my ticket as the ticket was belated. A told her she was correct but that that same ticket was revalidated the night before and the office at Heathrow confirmed it that I was on the Boeing 737 Aircraft 9.05am departure flight. The lady refused to listen to my explanation, as she insisted that I must book another ticket without the assurance that I will even get a seat on any of the aircraft seats left. Even worse, right in front of me, a family was weeping because ARIK decided to cancel their flight without notifying them, even though they booked half of the seats in the aircraft for their relatives wedding! One of the old woman almost fainted as she claimed she insisted that they fly ARIK while other options were made for them!
After waiting for almost 45mins, the lady later referred me to another guy who decided to withhold my e-ticket and never bothered to address my concern!
Finally I had to play the last card on my table! I told the woman point blank that if I do not get my confirmation of ticket within the next 15mins, I will be on to phone to my lawyers in the UK, who would begin legal proceedings against Aviarep (who happens to be ARIK representative in the UK). It was then another guy came forward and asked the lady to quickly confirm my ticket as He doesn’t want any more court cases! My ticket was immediately reconfirmed and issued.
I was shocked what I found out that day; that ARIK staff told people who came to check in that the aircraft was overbooked yet at the counter, ARIK staff was still selling tickets for same flight! (that was the 1.15pm flight departure).
After the entire struggle I checked in, boarded the shuttle bus to the tarmac, only to be shocked that ARIK have changed the aircraft from the B737 to A Q400 turboprop aircraft that could only accommodate 35ppl according to the pilot. Strangely, the shuttle bus conveyed more people to the tarmac than the maximum number the plan could carry! To make the situation worse, some people were already seated in the aircraft, but unknown to them, the baggage was not in the aircraft yet! The Pilot had to announce that everybody in the aircraft should come down and identify their baggages, only for some people to discover that their luggage was not even in the tarmac! ARIK staff on ground rather than being apologetic, engages in blame game with staff of the company who ARIK does the conveying of luggage’s for ARIK.
Finally, the mini drama ended and we entered the aircraft with some people returned to the waiting area at the local wing as the number of seats available was fully occupied. Another drama started when it became clear to us that the pilot did not start the engine for pre-flight procedure! By the time we decided to find out why the pilot did not start the aircraft engines from one of the crew, He pretended as if He did not hear us, He continued serving  some chaff they call launch pack ( which basically was a small juice container and those road side cakes!). We were kept in the aircraft for well over 30mins and to the surprise of every one, the pilot open the cabin door, told us that only one of the aircraft engine was responding to start up and that He has phoned the mechanics to come check the second one!! That was when people began to panic and after couple of minutes, the mechanics guys came, did something in the cockpit and the two engines started! Then it became a problem of taking off as the pilot had to wait as He claimed that ARIK departure slot and extended time limit has since elapsed! After waiting for about 20mins, ATC finally gave the go ahead for us to depart and thank God we arrived safely!!
Now this experience has left me with serious doubts about ARIK whether they truly are in this business for long! But for the time being, I think I would stick to my Emirates even though it would cost me another 5Hrs, just mean I get to peep into Dubai!

                        *shocked beyond shocked* I cannot believe you stayed on that plane after that. My God in heaven, are things really this bad?  and this is still supposedly the "best" airline in Naija? I am afraid oh! very afraid.

I have never boarded Arik and honestly with this information I wouldn't even try!

It's a shame though cause the entire Arik team is misrepresenting Nigeria.

Is this not the case of the terrible attitudes of isolated individuals ruining a brand one man worked hard to build? Its the same thing in our banks, hotels, schools and so on. Now the company gets to suffer because of some folks with poor up bringing.

Tell me, besides Arik, which other airline would you recommend.

At this rate, I 'll just stick with the devil I know! I can't believe the food shortage on an international flight! The 'maltesers' surprise is a disgrace too! Looks like they are just dis-organised and unprofessional!

ooooh no, Now i am sooo scared, fly tonight with them tonight from heathrow,and my hubby warned me o,see what luggage loving has caused for me.You should have seen me arguing with my husband,telling him off for having a bias against Nigerian run companies.Was also swayed with the fact that i have relatives who have had nasty experiences with both BA and Virgin Atlantic in the last few months so i just deduced that most airlines had bad days and so with faith and patriotism decided to go with arik even at the cost of extra airmiles.Chei.

My Lord and My God its too late to rebook but i put thee in charge of my child and self tonight.

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I have flown Arik severally and i have never regretted any flight with them, However with this tide of negative vibes about the airline i don't think i would want to fly Arik again. This is how it all started for ADC back then, next thing we knew their planes were dropping like flies.