Business News
British Airways to compensate passengers over diverted flights
British Airways has stated that its passengers, who experienced diverted flights a few weeks ago, would be compensated.
Weeks after Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it would ensure airline companies compensate passengers of diverted flights, the British Airways has stated that it is set to compensate passengers with such experience.
Airlines had experienced delays and diversion of flights due to the resurfacing of Harmattan in January, which caused poor visibility. This affected movement of flights into Nigeria, with some forced to divert to Accra, Ghana.
British Airways was one of the affected airlines, as it diverted its passengers to Ghana for safety reasons. This action was expected, as stated in a previous Nairametrics report, and according to the General Manager of West Africa, British Airways, Kola Olayinka, the delays and diversion were unfortunate but necessary.
Olayinka said, “We regret the frustrations experienced and the disruptions it would have had on earlier-planned engagements of our esteemed customers.
“We would also like to use this opportunity to encourage passengers to send receipts of expenses incurred during this period to our customer relations team on standby to process the reimbursements and also attend to queries.”
He added that, “Regrettably, in this unique case, most hotels were taken up by passengers of airlines that were earlier diverted to Abuja. The direct result was the inadequacy of accommodation.
“To resolve this, we booked all 157 available rooms and accommodated 157 passengers.
“We also ensured the safety of the remaining passengers by accommodating them in a dedicated area provided by Sheraton where we provided meals and drinks.”
[READ MORE: British Airways: Again, Pilots suspend strike)
British Airways not alone: Harmattan hays caused flight cancellation and delay in the Nigerian Aviation sector grounding foreign airlines throughout the said week. The harmattan led to poor visibility for the planes intending to fly in or out of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos State.
Aside from the British Airways flights, other airlines such as Qatar Airways, Emirates, Delta Airways and KLM were also affected. Companies like Air Peace and Arik had to issue weather advisory to passengers as the foggy weather worsened on Wednesday, January 12, 2020.
Hospitality & Travel
KLM demands rapid antigen tests from Lagos passengers, as Netherland bans flights to UK, others
Passengers are to obtain rapid antigen tests at Murtala Mohammed International Airport before departure via Air France KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Air France KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has asked passengers departing from Lagos to obtain a rapid antigen test at Murtala Mohammed International Airport before departure from January 26, 2021.
This was disclosed by the Commercial Team Nigeria, Air France KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in its newsletter.
The airlines explained that customers, who are traveling to France as their final destination, now need to show a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding the aircraft and that the test result cannot be older than 72 hours and only PCR or LAMP tests are accepted.
Also, to fight against COVID-19, the Dutch government imposed flight ban to the United Kingdom, South Africa and South America.
It stated, “In addition, a second COVID-19 test will be required (rapid test – antigen) for all customers traveling to The Netherlands, including transfer customers.
“No passengers will be allowed to board the aircraft without both the negative PCR test (72 hours before departure) and antigen test results (4 hours before departure) and will be rebooked accordingly. For now, all flights to/from U.K will be suspended until 27 January 2021.”
Steps to obtain rapid test
- Antigen testing for passengers flying to The Netherlands including transfer customers need to be done as of 4
hours prior to flight departure. In order to undergo the test, each passenger must complete a biodata form - The payment for the COVID-19 antigen test needs to be made via cash or card. The venue for sample collection is at the airport close to the check-in desks.
- Rebook policy for mandatory PCR test: Customers that are not able to provide negative test results on time can take advantage of Air France and KLM PCR-test rebook policy.
What you should know
In December 2020, Nairametrics reported that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Air France resumed flight operations to Abuja and Lagos.
The airlines in a statement disclosed that international passengers can now fly Air France and KLM from Nigeria (Abuja and Lagos) to Paris and Amsterdam, with the possibility of further transfers to other European and North Atlantic destinations.
In a piece of travel advice, the airline asked customers to ensure they are well prepared for their trip and check the entry and travel requirements for their destination and transit countries in line with travel restrictions and governmental authorizations before making any travel plans. This is as the entry requirements may change with short notice.
Tech News
Twitter acquires newsletter service, Revue
Twitter has acquired Revue, an email service that lets writers publish newsletters.
Twitter has acquired Revue, a Dutch startup that makes it free and easy for anyone to start and publish editorial newsletters. This is coming after a failed attempt to acquire Revue’s competition Substack.
Twitter has made massive moves over the past two months to acquire start-ups as it tries to expand beyond its core timeline product.
What they are saying
- According to a blog post by Twitter VP of Publisher Products, Mike Park and Product Lead, Kayvon Beykpour, “Many established writers and publishers have built their brand on Twitter, amassing an audience that’s hungry for the next article or perspective they Tweet. Our goal is to make it easy for them to connect with their subscribers, while also helping readers better discover writers and their content. We’re imagining a lot of ways to do this, from allowing people to sign up for newsletters from their favorite follows on Twitter, to new settings for writers to host conversations with their subscribers. It will all work seamlessly within Twitter.
They added that Twitter will continue to operate Revue as a standalone product, with its team remaining “focused on improving the ways writers create their newsletters, build their audience and get paid for their work.”
- “Revue will accelerate our work to help people stay informed about their interests while giving all types of writers a way to monetize their audience – whether it’s through the one they built at a publication, their website, on Twitter, or elsewhere,” the Twitter executives said.
They also said that bringing Revue to Twitter will supercharge this offering, helping writers grow their paid subscribers while also incentivizing them to produce engaging and relevant content that drives conversations on Twitter.
Twitter will make Revue’s Pro features free for all accounts and lower the paid newsletter fee to 5%, a competitive rate that lets writers keep more of the revenue generated from subscriptions.
What you should know:
- In December, Twitter bought Squad, a multi-participant video chat app, and this month it acquired the social broadcasting service, Breaker to create audio conversations for Twitter users. And now, they have added Revue to the collection of startups.
- Revue was originally founded in 2015 in the Netherlands.
- Twitter’s acquisition of Revue also places it in direct competition with Substack, a rival email newsletter service that has been growing in popularity recently.
