Duduspree News, Texas
Flight delays have become a norm in Nigeria.
Many air travellers have had to wait for several hours, create a scene at airports or react angrily as the case may be before eventually flying to their destinations or getting a refund.
In this report, SEGUN ODUNAYO examines this worrisome trendOn a Friday in December 2021, a tired Bode Oyegoke closed from work and headed straight for the airport to catch a 7pm flight on Air Peace Airline from Kano to Lagos.
An old friend was getting married the following day and Oyegoke must be there.
Kano to Lagos is a distance of one hour and 35 minutes by air travel and Oyegoke had everything planned.
But his plan to arrive in Lagos in good time and get a good rest before going for the wedding would be disrupted by the airline as his flight did not take off till midnight.
The airline, according to him, did not offer any cogent reason for the flight delay while, despite being tired, he was forced to loaf around the airport for hours much against his plan and will.
He did not arrive in Lagos until the small wee hours of Saturday and he nearly missed the wedding because when he eventually went to bed, stressed and exhausted, he could not get out of bed until afternoon, after which he dragged himself to the wedding.
But that was not the only time that Oyegoke, a businessman, would have the bitter taste of delayed flight, disrupting his plans.
Speaking with our correspondent, he recalled another occasion when on a morning of July 2022, he got a call from his boss, who told him to ensure to be at Kano Airport by 4pm to pick him up.
His boss, who was coming from Lagos, said he had a Max Air flight scheduled for 2.45pm and he expected to be in Kano by 4pm.
“But can you imagine that by that 4pm, the flight had not even left Lagos and, in fact, it didn’t leave at all that day!”Oyegoke told our correspondent.
He said he was at the airport for 10 hours awaiting the arrival of his boss, who eventually called him at 2am and told him to go back home.
