Why You Must Not Fly Virgin Nigeria - Dele Olojede

ON the evening of Monday June 9 I left my hotel in Abuja for the airport to catch an 8:25 flight on Virgin Nigeria to Lagos. Having been burned repeatedly by this hopeless airline, this was not my choice at all. Earlier in the day I had received an sms from Aero, saying for technical reasons they regretted to inform me that the 7 p.m. flight I was scheduled to take to Lagos had been cancelled. What was more, Aero had followed up with a phone call, at least eight hours before the flight, to express their regrets and offer me a full refund. I was expecting the worst from Virgin, and I got it.

I arrived at the airport at 7:10, a full hour and 15 minutes before departure, only to be told that the flight had been closed and I couldn't get on it. Dumbfounded, I asked how that was possible. The hapless little lady at the check-in counter kept mouthing a meaningless "sorry, sir; sorry sir," before coming up with the quite incredible explanation that the flight came early, so they checked in early, and now I couldn't fly. I had a choice to hit the roof and perhaps make a terrible scene. But as part of my on-going education regarding my re-entry into my native country, where anything that can go wrong is guaranteed to do so, I willed myself instead to ask, in my most even-tempered voice, how it was possible for her to wake up in the morning and go to work for a company that is so demonstrably hopeless. She turned away and kept saying, in that lifeless, resigned sort of way, "sorry, sir; sorry sir."

Soon enough some "supervisor" came by and said she could squeeze me into an economy seat, though Virgin had taken my cash for business class. I kept haranguing the staff how they could possibly be proud of a company that treats its customers with such contempt. Of course, there being no possibly defensible answer, they kept quiet. One said, again, "sorry sir. We will refund your ticket sir." So I walked to the aircraft to board. One fellow ran up to me with a hurriedly handwritten ticket - just as the boarding pass and the baggage tag had also been handwritten - as proof that Virgin owed me a refund. I boarded and settled into Seat 5D, economy class.

We prepared to take off. The pilot apologised over the PA system for the more than one-hour delay of the flight. A-ha! So the flight was not early after all. It was late! And so, quite capriciously, the bright sparks at Virgin decided to combine the earlier flight with the 8:25 flight, with no further flights for the day, and tough luck for any customer expecting to fly at 8:25. Virgin Nigeria lies. As we prepared to take off, I took a look at the paper ticket, No. 17865090007821 0, that had been handed to me. Stated at the top that the ticket is NON REFUNDABLE! And it is merely "good for further transportation or excess baggage" on Virgin Nigeria only! Virgin Nigeria
cheats.

The aircraft trundled along the runway and prepared to take off. Dozens of mosquitoes buzzed around in the cabin. One bit me in the left foot. Virgin Nigeria makes you sick. Several weeks ago, while my wife and children were visiting, we had experienced another incident of the outrageous and contemptuous way in which Virgin Nigeria routinely treats its passengers. We had boarded a Lagos flight from Abuja and were walking to the tarmac to board, when we discovered that Virgin was herding us onto some unknown charter operator called Blue Fin. No previous warning, no explanation, no apology.

The aircraft was rickety old. Overhead compartments couldn't close properly. Stuffing came out of the seats, and my daughter's seat could not be made to stay in an upright position. Neither the pilot nor the cabin crew spoke a word of English. We avoided the food. We hoped for the best. Virgin Nigeria lies and cheats and makes you sick.

It is clear the airline no longer has operational capabilities that can pass muster with any minimally competent regulator. But as in all things, our government leaves the citizens at the mercy of predators of all stripes. Since Richard Branson lends his name to this fraud, he can only be considered a fraud also. A liar, a cheat, and a flier of planes with malaria mosquitoes inside. It is clear that an airline like Virgin Nigeria does not have what it takes to put planes in the air safely and efficiently. A company that is so dysfunctional cannot be trusted with the lives of citizens.

It is only a matter of time before Virgin Nigeria kills.

Olojede, Pulitzer prize winner, is with Timbuktu media

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God first, family second and career third.
www.marykay.com/adanna

wow...

my man works for them and i was looking forward to him hooking me up with some tickets!

Beautiful prose!

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Abi o? Just wait till they throw him outta British Airways, seize his luggage, confiscate his pounds, make him sit on the runways, call police on him and ban him for life! Then he will not only be grateful to some Virgins mosquitoes, but write a prettier curvier prose.

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This Bobo sabi vex, e be like say the thing pain am for blood.

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Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. -Proverbs 4:7

"When beggars die there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." -William Shakespeare

Their aircraft used to be good even the service was nice, why do they change now or they decide to go with the Nigerian trend or something.

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The service on Virgin Nigeria sucks, the last time i flew on thier aircraft was in March 2006, after they delayed the flight for more than 6 hours without any explanation but 'operational difficulties', I swore never to fly them again. I flew them dis year though on an international flight and it was not so bad.

If you want to get a really horrible flight experience fly, IRS! You'll think Virgin gives 5 star treatment! I took an IRS flight to Abuja from Maiduguri and the flight was diverted to Yola to drop off some passengers. When we got to Yola, the flight was delayed not for 2 hours, not 5 hours but 9 hours! They kept telling us that due to operational difficulties, the flight was delayed. They managed to give us drinking water and some snack while we all waited in the lounge. I was supposed to arrive in Abuja by 2pm, we eventually landed there by 12am! Since then i said, even if they 'dash' tickets, i'll never fly IRS! Never!

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Eyyaaaaaa..The IRS story had me LOL..........Imagine the people who left Maidugri on MassTransit and Ifesinachi buses at the crack of dawn..Dem take style reach Lagos before you oh

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You no even know wetin happen that day. I woke up in the morning and went to take a car to abuja, cos it's about 8 to 10 hours to abuja, as we were leaving maiduguri, na im the moto begin get problem, so I insisted that the man drive back into maiduguri to drop me. Dem beg me o say make dem go change the moto, i say no, i dey go enter plane, by 12 say pata pata by 1, i'll be in abuja cos i've got work to do. i even convinced 2 other people in the car to fly with me. Na so 3 of us just dey look ourselves for airport, say those people wey still follow that taxi go don reach abuja by now, dey sleep sef!

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Celebrate Africa, the continent of beauty!

But seriously,Virgin Nigeria is more or less our national carrier.It boasts of the best Airline service in Nigeria today.The only thing sustaining that boast is a yet to be experienced crash(hope am right)!
My experiences with domestic airlines in Nigeria would get awards anytime they are narrated.In one occassion,i was travelling from Lagos to Kaduna with my daughter and we took our seats after a scamble that had her clothes messed up by grown-up Nigerians who saw no need for civility.While seated,i was informed that bcos there was some mistakes with ticket sale-they sold far more seats than they actually have-i should lap my daughter for the duration of the flight.She was three and half yrs then.I objected,telling the lady who incidentally was a college acquiantance of mine,that even my daughter would not want to do that.Just as i predicted,she refused and even asked if i was sure i paid har fare.It got out of hand when the Alhaji who was to take my daughter's seat started to rain abuses at me for not being "civil"enough to let an elderly person seat instead of my daughter.My anger was really not directed at the gworo-chewing nincompoop but at the airline that sold me tickets and still want me to do something that puts air transport safety in jeopardy.I was short of being thrown out with my daughter bcos according to them,Alhaji was a serious customer.I was so furious but comforted myself till we got down in Kaduna where the Alhaji who was eventually seated by the pilot,attempted chatting with me.One look told him plenty and i had my peace.
It was Aero so,you can imagine my shock to read here that they were more proffessional than our suppossed National carriers

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IT IS BETTER TO DIE FOR A CAUSE THAT WOULD LIVE THAN TO LIVE FOR ONE THAT WOULD DIE

Hahhahahaha, tok true? Chai!

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Nah so we see am oh!!!

U're where u belong..........................................






























in my warm loving heart.

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As bad as domestic flight in Naija seems, I've seen worse in Equatorial Guinea. To board a domestic flight there, you have to be prepared to sit on stools or stand for the duration of the flight.

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Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. -Proverbs 4:7

"When beggars die there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." -William Shakespeare

Abi na ADC or Ekenedilichukwu dem dey fly over there?

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Hello MY LOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Nah so we see am oh!!!