We finally arrived in Lagos…surprising only three hours late. However, there was no place to park the plane so they took us to the Arik Hanger to exit the plane. We stood on the tarmac for about 15 minutes before the buses arrived. We were whisked away to the terminal and our Arik adventure came to an end.

There is an article in the BBC on the state of air travel in Nigeria. My favorite highlights from the article include…

“Customer service at Arik Air is at times non-existent. When the airline cancels a flight, most of the time its ground staff flee rather than deal with the fallout from irate passengers.” I would say that all times customer service is no existent! On our return flight, we arrived three house early in hopes of catching an earlier flight. We were told at the service counter that the 6pm flight was canceled and people were being rebooked on the 3:00pm flight. There was no text message, call or email about our canceled flight!

“First, find the most reliable airline and stick with it. And, if possible, take the first flight in the morning as it’s normally guaranteed to go on time (give or take an hour.) Delays become compounded throughout the day as most airlines operate a shuttle service. So a good bet is that a mid-afternoon flight will probably turn into early evening flight. Passengers normally only miss their flight if it actually leaves on time.”

He ends the article with a few positive things about flying in Nigeria. “There are, however, a few perks about air travel in Nigeria: Free snacks onboard; unbelievably cheap excess baggage and the fact that you can board with as much carry-on luggage as you can actually carry on.”

While all this may be true, I would like him to know that most African airlines provide free snacks and offer discount excess baggage fees. But I guess it is good to look at the bright side!