The Minister of Aviation, Cecelia Dapaah on Thursday (18^th December, 2018) issued a strong warning to British Airways over substandard services.

She added that government will take drastic action against the airline if it continues to provide substandard treatment to passengers flying its routes to Ghana.

The warning follows an incident that occurred on a bedbug-infested British Airways plane, bound for the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) from Heathrow.

The cabin crew of the aircraft after seeing the bedbugs few minutes before takeoff protested, and subsequently walked off, leading to a delay in the flight.

In an interview with Citi Business News, the Head of Programs and Research at the Consumer Protection Agency, Nana Peprah said Ghanaians must report such treatment to the right authorities to be dealt with.

“The Minister did very well and the President himself also made the same complaint to the airline when they decided to move us from terminal three to terminal five. So I support this call from the minister seriously.”

“Ghanaians who face such treatment must always report such especially to the CPA or any other agency when they believe services that they are entitled to do not meet their standard. If we all do that and if we are all able to do that then definitely they will change towards us” he urged.

He went on to narrate instances where Ghana had been treated unfairly.

“It is not just the British Airways. We also had another problem with KLM when we were told that “Ghana must go” bags should not be allowed on their airlines. So if you are telling me I am not supposed to bring onboard something that I do from my home country onto your airline then definitely you don’t want me on your flight and that’s the way it is” he added.

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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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The airline was hit by a worldwide computer system power failure on Saturday, causing cancellations and delays for thousands of passengers.

Sunday departures from Gatwick are delayed, but none have been cancelled.

The airline urged people to check the status of flights before before travelling to the airport.

Heathrow Airport is providing an updated schedule on its website, as is Gatwick.

BA apologised to customers for the issue, which is thought to have been caused by a problem with the IT system’s power supply.

How many flights are affected?

Between 06:00 and 11:00 BST on Sunday, 143 British Airways flights were scheduled to depart from London Heathrow and Gatwick Airport.

So far 90 flights have left Heathrow and 36 have been cancelled.

At Gatwick, one BA flight has been cancelled. Other flights are returning to schedule.

The airline is liable to reimburse thousands of passengers for refreshments and hotel costs.

Customers displaced by flight cancellations can claim up to £200 a day for a room (based on two people sharing), £50 for transport between the hotel and airport, and £25 a day per adult for meals and refreshments.

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Source: BBC

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A “major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide”, the airline said.

It apologised for the “global system outage” and said it was “working to resolve the the problem”.

Heathrow Airport said it was “working closely” with BA to solve the issue.

There is no evidence at this stage to suggest the system failure was caused by a cyber attack, BA told the BBC’s business correspondent, Joe Lynam.

All affected passengers will be offered the option of rescheduling or a refund.

In a statement, the airline asked passengers with flights before 18:00 BST on Saturday not to come to Gatwick or Heathrow airports, which it said had become “extremely congested”.

Other airlines flying in and out of Heathrow and Gatwick are unaffected.

The problems mean parts of BA’s website are unavailable and some travellers claimed they could not check in on the mobile app.

BA aircraft landing at Heathrow are unable to park up as outbound aircraft cannot vacate the gates, which has resulted in passengers being stuck on aircraft.

Journalist Martyn Kent said he had been sitting on a plane at Heathrow for 90 minutes. He said the captain told passengers the IT problems were “catastrophic”.

BA staff in Heathrow’s Terminal 5 were resorting to using white boards, according to passenger Gareth Wharton.

Delays have been reported in Rome, Prague, Milan, Stockholm and Malaga due to the system failure.

Philip Bloom said he had been waiting on board a Heathrow-bound flight at Belfast for two hours.

He added: “We haven’t been told very much just that there is a worldwide computer system failure.

“We were told that we couldn’t even get on other flights because they are unable to see what flights we can be moved to.”

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Source: BBC

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In a major embarrassment for the airline, the African country’s leader criticised ‘the quality of the planes and the service’.

He even accused BA of ‘taking us a little for granted’. The comments follow a barrage of complaints from travellers over poor service on the airline’s flights.

BA has been criticised after it stopped providing free sandwiches, snacks and drinks on flights lasting less than five hours.

The policy could now be extended to long-haul flights for passengers in economy class.

The airline has also come under fire over plans to cut legroom from 30 inches to 29 on some of its planes – an inch less than Ryanair.

The criticism from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana is particularly embarrassing, however, as it came during a meeting with a BA executive about the airline’s plans to celebrate 80 years of flying to the country.

The president, who has been in office since January, urged Paolo De Renzis, the head of Middle East, Africa and Central Asia sales at BA, to upgrade the quality of the services between Accra, the Ghanaian capital, and London.

‘There are complaints about the quality of the planes on the route and the service,’ said Mr Akufo-Addo. ‘In some quarters, there is a feeling that you are taking us a little for granted in the way in which we are receiving your services.’

Mr Akufo-Addo also said that passengers complained that flights to and from Accra now operate out of Terminal Three at Heathrow – not Terminal Five, the flagship terminal opened in 2008. ‘Terminal Three is not so convenient a place as Terminal Five,’ he said.

Addressing Mr Renzis, he added: ‘When friends are speaking, I think we should speak frankly. I think I am the proper person to let you know what the pre-occupations of our people are. These are matters that will be easy for you to rectify.’

However, the president also praised BA for its long-standing relationship with Ghana.

‘The patronage you have tells you about the confidence the Ghanaian people have in the airline,’ he said. ‘I want to congratulate you very warmly. Eighty years of service is worth commemorating.’

Mr Renzis told Mr Akufo-Addo: ‘We have a long-standing relationship with the country. We are strongly committed to the market, and we appreciate your feedback. We will work very hard to improve the products and services to Ghana.’

BA flies once a day from London to Accra and once a day from Accra to London.

The flights – on a Boeing 747 that carries up to 345 passengers – take longer than six hours.

Return flights cost from £677. Other airlines to fly from the UK to Ghana include KLM, Air France, Alitalia, Emirates and Kenya Airways.

The meeting in Ghana follows criticism from customers closer to home. British Airways came under fire earlier this month after it offered only £40 of compensation to an 87-year-old woman who sat in soaking wet clothes on a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to London after an air hostess refused to let her go to the lavatory.

In another incident, a group of 60 children from a school in Hampshire claimed they were denied free tap water while on a three-hour flight from Naples to Gatwick.

A BA spokesman said: ‘Our customers in Ghana will benefit from the investments we’re making in customer experience as they roll out.

‘These include investments in the latest technology in the air and on the ground, catering, our premium offerings and providing value in our economy cabins.’

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Source: Daily Mail

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Passengers on the 10:40 GMT British Airways flight to San Francisco were strapped in and waiting to leave when the “rather unusual occurrence” was announced.

The crew told passengers planes cannot take off with mice on board, and that another flight would be scheduled.

It eventually left about four hours later.

One passenger, Carly, said there was “general disbelief” among she and her fellow travellers when the news was broken.

“I’m not sure people knew how to react,” she said.

‘Sell the movie’

She said they had been told another plane had been found, but the passengers would have to wait several hours for a gate to be found before it could take off.

Some of the flight’s passengers tweeted their reactions.

Matt Watt wrote: “Just had my flight to SFO cancelled because of a mouse on board the plane. Could it not get a visa?? #britishairways”, while @midlandsound wrote a Haiku: “About to fly to SF, There is a mouse on the plane, We all must get off.”

He also wrote: “I’m going to sell this to the movies. It can be the slightly more pedestrian prequel to snakes on a plane. Maybe this is what lured them on?”

British Airways said: “We know almost everyone wants to fly with us to San Francisco, but on this occasion there was one very small customer who we had to send back to the gate.

“Everyone with two legs is now on their way to California, and we are sorry for the delay.”

Heathrow Airport said it could not comment on individual flights.

In 2015, boxer David Haye’s flight from Birmingham was also cancelled because a mouse was seen on the plane.

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Source: BBC

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