Amidst threat of boycott: British Airways issues official response
London - The British Airways has finally caved in to pressure from millions of Nigerians worldwide as well as the federal government demand for an explanation for the recent maltreatments of Nigerians on a BA Flight #0075 en route Lagos from London on March 27, 2008.
Less than 24hrs after the President, Musa Yar’Adua mandated the Minister of State for Air Transport, Felix Hyatt, to investigate the bad treatment meted out to some Nigerian travelers aboard the British Airways flight, the British carrier has defended itself on the allegations. A statement from the airline partly read: ”The disturbance on board the BA75 service to Lagos on Thursday, 27th March, was a very serious incident which required the presence of 20 uniformed police officers to regain control of the situation.”
Referring to the UK Immigration Act 1971, BA said it was a legal requirement for an airline to carry deportees, hence, British Airways, like all other airlines, must comply with the law. “The police decided, with the agreement of the captain, that it would be unwise to let all the passengers travel on the aircraft as their behaviour could pose a security risk,” the airline stated.
While declaring that it took threats against its crew or passengers very seriously and would not tolerate the kind of behaviour seen on board the BA75 on that day, the airline said as a result of the incident, one passenger had been banned from traveling on British Airways flights, reflecting the severity of the disturbance.
The airline, however, said no passenger involved in the incident had received a lifetime ban from travelling on British Airways flights. “British Airways has a long and proud history of serving Nigeria and its people. For over 71 years, the airline has flown from the UK to Nigeria, connecting the country to the rest of the world.
While this is not enough defence to dissuade thousands of Nigerians worldwide who have resolved to boycott the airline services, the airline has at least shown to the world by this statement that Nigerian passengers are crucial to their business. We call on the pressure to be sustained and demand a full published apology to all Nigerians. We also call on the airline to offer full compensation to all passengers that were forced to travel via Dubai to Lagos. Nigerians do not deserve this type of inhumane treatment by any individual or institution. The question is will the British Government allow any foreign airline to dish out this type of treatment to any British citizens? We think not!
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