Passengers demand N6.7m from Arik Air over cancelled flight

Four passengers of Arik Air have demanded for N6.7 million as damages from the airline for alleged indiscriminate cancellation of their Abuja-Yola flight without notification on October 22, 2020.

In a suit filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja on December 31, 2020, Sadiq Usman, Luqman Hussain, Muhammad Danazumi and Zubair Usman – accused the airline of breach of contract, and violation of their rights as well as certain provisions of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) regulations.

They stated in their statement of claim that they bought air tickets from Arik Air for Flight W3 838 which was set to depart Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on October 22, 2020, at 11:15 a.m. and arrive Yola International Airport, at 12:35 p.m. of the same day.

Usman, who stated that he was to attend a wedding in Yola, averred that he was at the check-in counter of the airline till 12 p.m. “when he discovered that the flight had been cancelled, with no correspondence of any sort made by the defendant (Arik) to him in respect of the cancelled flight and no notice whatsoever had been given to him in advance about the cancellation.”

The plaintiffs’ joint statement of claim reads: That till 11:15hrs when the flight was scheduled to depart, there were no announcements for boarding and he had received no notices from the defendant at any point in time with reasons for the cancellation, after it was confirmed from the airport authorities that the flight was indeed cancelled.

Hussain, who narrated a similar ordeal, also stated that the check-in desk of the airline remained unmanned two hours after the scheduled departure time, and that “there were no announcements heralding the arrival of flight W3 838 to Yola.”

The plaintiffs stated that a few hours before the cancellation of the flight, Arik Air still sold tickets to intended passengers, including one Mustapha Sulaiman.

They stated that they lost N135, 000 which they paid through Prof A. L Tukur for booking of rooms in Damada Hotel in Yola, as a result of the cancellation of the flights.

The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Musa Danladi, therefore asked the court to, among others, declare that Arik Air “is in express breach of its contract” by failing to transport for the trips shown on the air tickets sold to them by the airline.

They urged the court to order monetary awards to them comprising the total sum of N204,213 as specific damages, representing the total amount paid for flight tickets by all the plaintiffs.

They also sought an order directing Arik Air to pay the plaintiffs N1.5 million.