Dear editor,
On February 19, 2021, Brussels Airlines has reportedly checked in the passengers at the Banjul International Airport and issued them with boarding passes.
The passengers went through regular screening and all the immigration and Covid-19 related procedures. While they were sitting in the waiting hall, they were told that the flight has been cancelled!
The mind-boggling question is why the airline would, on earth, process the passengers when it certainly knew that the flight would be cancelled? Why didn’t they inform the passengers, beforehand, that the flight was being cancelled due to bad weather conditions or whatever?! And this is not the first time they would cancel the flight. The flight on Feb 17 was cancelled but the passengers were at least given prior notice.
The passengers were not immediately told why the flight was cancelled. Instead, they were asked to collect their baggage and go home without rebooking or arranging hotels for them.
Imagine some passengers have already given out the leftovers of the Gambian currency and had no money to hire a taxi! Some are strangers with nowhere to go!!
The Ministry of Transport should hold Brussels airlines to account by forcing them to compensate the passengers for the inconvenience due to the unceremonious flight cancellation. Some countries have now introduced the passenger right action to ensure that the rights of passengers are protected against undue delay or cancellation.
AFTER ALL, this could only happen in Gambia/Africa because they know they can maltreat us with no consequences!
Basidia M Drammeh
USA
