Published 13th Sep, 2021

By Tola Owoyele

On August 14, Amaka Ezeh, a student, booked a round-trip flight with Air Peace. She planned to travel from Port-Harcourt to Lagos in September and return in six days.

However, the flight would be postponed six times before its eventual cancellation.

“I was supposed to board an 8.30 am flight from Port-Harcourt to Lagos on Monday, September 6, but surprisingly, I received a message from Air Peace on Friday, September 3, stating that my Monday flight would be delayed for 3hrs10mins, and that my new departure time was now 11.40 am,” Ezeh said, while speaking with FIJ.

According to her, the reason the airline gave was ‘operation concerns’. Despite feeling a little disappointed about the time change, Ezeh said she took it in good faith and looked forward to the new takeoff time.

However, while preparing her luggage for the journey on Sunday, September 5, she received another email from the airline.

“On Sunday evening, at about 4pm, I received another mail from the airline, informing me of yet another change in departure time. According to the message, the time of flight had now been moved from 11.40 am to 5.10 pm,” Ezeh further said.

Unknown to her, another shocker was waiting.

“I was still thinking of leaving my Port Harcourt residence by 3 pm to make the 5.10 pm flight when yet another email came in on Monday afternoon. This time, the flight had been moved from 5.10 pm to 9 pm!” Ezeh narrated.

She was still thinking of how to navigate Lagos roads and make it to her home in Ojo if she took off at 9 pm when another message came in. For the fourth time, the airline was shifting departure time from 9 pm to 10 pm.

“When I received the fourth message, I decided to visit their Port Harcourt office that Monday evening, making them understand that there was no way I could travel at 10 pm. It was not in any way convenient for me.

“This prompted the airline to move my flight to the following day, which was Tuesday, September 7. My new return date from Lagos was changed from 12 to 14. The new travel time was also supposed to be 11.40 am. However, at 3 am on Tuesday, the airline sent me another message that it had shifted the flight to 5.50 pm for operational concerns,” Ezeh said.

In the morning, she visited Air Peace’s Port Harcourt office a second time and told them the 5.50 pm time was not convenient for her. It was then agreed that her Port Harcourt to Lagos booking be kept open till she intended to fly the same route in the future. With this, she travelled to Lagos with a different airline.

“Remember, because it is a two-way trip, I am expected to board a return flight with the same airline to Port Harcourt, and this is expected to be on September 14, by 2.30 pm. But as we speak, Air Peace has sent another message, stating that the flight has been cancelled. This time, it is not even about change in time of flight. They are saying cancellation!” Ezeh lamented.

“I have spent hours calling their hotlines, but they answered none of the calls. I don’t even know what is going on anymore. This is completely unacceptable. A two-way flight? This is not a good way to treat customers.”

FIJ placed several calls to the company’s phone lines, but they were not reachable. Text messages sent to the phone lines also got no response.

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