Over 300 Passengers Stranded After Turkish Airlines Cancels Flight 30mins To Take-Off

No fewer than 300 passengers scheduled to travel with Turkish Airlines at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos on Tuesday were stranded after their Turkish Airlines flight was cancelled less than 30 minutes before take-off on Tuesday night.

It was gathered that the flight, which was supposed to convey passengers from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos to Istanbul, Turkey, had been scheduled for 8:55 pm, but the airline did not inform the passengers of the flight cancellation until 8:26 pm on Tuesday.

In a video sighted by Osun Defender, the passengers lamented the shabby treatment meted to them by the management of Turkish Airlines, which did not attend to them or explain anything on the way forwarded, as they waited endlessly at the airport.

One of the passengers said, “Without so much as offering the abandoned passengers even a bottle of water,  the airline’s airport manager Luckman (not Nigerian) was smuggled out of the airport by staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).  I’m told  there are families who flew in from places like Benin with kids, who have been left stranded.”

READ: Naira Devaluation: Teesside Varsity Orders Nigerian Students To Leave UK Over Struggle To Pay Tuition

Many of the passengers who complained did not have anything good to say about the airline; they regretted the lack of interface with the airline.

Findings revealed that since there was no more direct flights from Italy to Nigeria, Turkish Airlines had become the choice of many Nigerians in Italy, most of whom come from Edo state. Many of the passengers with their children were left stranded at the airport.

“This is totally unacceptable service and response to an emergency situation that has nothing to do with the passengers but everything to do with Turkish,” a stranded passenger said.

Efforts to speak with the Turkish Airlines Headquarters proved abortive as they could not return the call of our correspondent.