3Months After Flight Cancellation, Activist Awaits N365,000 Refund From Air Peace

Kehinde Adegboyega, a human rights journalist from Lagos, has narrated to FIJ how Air Peace, one of Nigeria’s commercial airlines, cancelled his flight scheduled for October 13 two hours before takeoff and failed to refund his ticket fare months later.

Adegboyega told FIJ on Wednesday that Air Peace had first adjusted his flight schedule by nearly 12 hours backwards. He stated that two hours before takeoff, the airline then announced that their P47130 flight could no longer make the trip due to operational reasons.

The human rights journalist further stated he immediately filed for a refund as the ticket for the flight (a round trip) had been booked since May but he could not use it.

He said he kept it open until October and the airline asked that he pay an additional N65,000 to be able to reopen it.

“I have a ticket with Air Peace that was reserved for me in May but I could not use it and kept it open until I needed it in October,” Adegboyega told FIJ.

“When it was time for me to use it, I called them to say I would be flying to Abuja and they asked that I pay an extra N65,000 to be able to use the ticket. This I did before the deadline.

“But then I noticed that they had adjusted my flight schedule. This is because I requested a morning flight (9 am) but saw that my trip had been moved to the evening.

“I checked and saw that it was first 8:25 pm and then 9:25 pm. But even this one they adjusted, they cancelled two hours before it could take off.”

Air Peace’s cancellation notice.

Adegboyega said the airline cancelled the flight at a time when he had no other option for getting to his destination.

“I could not get any other option as I tried to book with other airlines that evening. Even for the next day, they were all fully booked and I was left stranded,” he recalled.

The activist said he instantly demanded a refund of all he had paid on the ticket but Air Peace has since been ignoring him.

“I had to tell them to refund me immediately, and I have been going back and forth with them. I sent about three emails, and they have only said they are working on it,” Adegboyega said.

“I tried to reach out to them on X too, and they said they are escalating it. I do not know how long this will take. They are not giving me a timeline for the refund.”

The passenger’s email to Air Peace on the same day the flight was cancelled.

He told FIJ that one of the reasons he wants the refund is that he is not sure about being able to use the ticket at another time. He fears that if he continues to keep it open, they will keep demanding money to use it.

Adegboyega added, “I want them to refund the money because if I have to pay another N65,000, there is no assurance that I will be able to use it. What is the guarantee that they won’t cancel the flight? Where is the assurance that I won’t cough up another huge thousands of naira?

“I feel like this could be a way for them to keep extorting me without allowing me to use the ticket. I paid N65,000 to reopen a round-trip ticket that cost nearly N300,000. This is about N365,000 I am expecting in total from Air Peace.

“It was a work meeting, and I missed it. One of my concerns is that if I were the one who erred, for example, if I got to the terminal late, Air Peace would not have allowed me to board or would have demanded that I pay extra.

“But now they are the ones at fault. I was expecting that the speed at which they cancelled the flight would be the same speed they would use to refund my money. Yet, it has been three months. They initially said 21 working days, but it has been three months, and I am still unsure when they are going to refund the money.”

When FIJ sent an email to Air Peace on Wednesday morning, it did not respond to the inquiry. The airline was yet to provide a response at press time.

https://FIJ. Ng/3-months-after-flight-cancellation-activist-await-N365,000-refund-from-air-peace/