How unruly passenger incited other passengers against our staff ― Air Peace

The management of Air Peace airline has attributed the delay experienced on its early morning flight scheduled for Lagos to Abuja on Tuesday to operational reasons.

This is just as the airline said it did not arrest any passenger following the drama that unfolded due to the flight delay.

It took the efforts of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) security officials already notified by the airline to prevent the agitated passengers from gaining entrance to the airfield where aircraft are parked.

According to the image-maker of the airline, Mr Stanley Olisa, contrary to the video shared by a passenger on the flight which has since gone viral and portraying the airline in a bad light, “The passengers in the video were supposed to be on a 19:20 Lagos-Abuja flight (September 28) but consequent upon tenable unforeseen operational concerns, the flight was delayed.

“We put 46 of them on a flight that departed at 19:16, leaving behind 46 passengers. The delay was professionally communicated to the passengers and we apologised for the delay and inconvenience.

“However, a certain male passenger who suddenly became uncontrollably irate assaulted our Boarding Officer. This was clearly unnecessary and despicable.

“We were about distributing refreshments in consonance with NCAA Regulations but the passenger’s action disrupted the process and noise erupted from different quarters while he incited other passengers against the airline.”

Following the unruly behaviour of the passenger and the influence of his attitude on other passengers, FAAN Security was said to have been compelled to lock the Boarding Gate to prevent the passengers from going to the airfield, a highly regulated part of the airport.

The airline further explained that it was the FAAN security officials that arrested the unruly passenger in the best I test of other law-abiding passengers on the flight.

“At 22:35, we called for boarding for the remaining 46 passengers. Due to his violent behaviour, Paul was arrested by FAAN security.

“The action was taken in the best interest of the passengers and the airline. Also, the lady who recorded the video being circulated, without the consent of those being recorded, was arrested by FAAN Security.

“FAAN Security repeatedly told her to stop recording but she did not. These arrests made some other passengers become unruly but with reinforcement from FAAN Security, the situation was managed, and the remaining passengers were able to board.

“Their arrests were done by FAAN Security in line with their standard procedures.

“Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconveniences experienced by the passengers last night as a result of the flight delay as it was caused by unavoidable operational factors.

“Air Peace is committed to providing Nigerians safe and seamless connectivity across cities and will not deliberately delay flights.”

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