Some passengers disembarking from a BA aircraft
A BRITISH Airways flight en-route to Accra last Friday returned to Heathrow Airport in London due to airspace restrictions by the military authority in Mali, causing disruption and an overnight flight delay for passengers.
The outbound Flight BA 081 could not land in Accra because the military junta failed to open the airspace, thereby forcing the aircraft to go back to Heathrow, having made a stop in Malaga for fuel.
In a joint statement issued Friday, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) said British Airways Plc accordingly informed its passengers about the development and said it would operate two flights on Saturday, April 9, 2022.
“Managements of GCAA and GACL would like to assure the travelling public that it will provide British Airways with the needed assistance for the smooth facilitation of affected passengers,” the statement said.
Officials of British Airways Plc also issued a statement corroborating what the GCAA and GACL said, and apologised for the flight cancelation and overnight delay experienced by passengers.
The company stated that despite its best efforts to mitigate against any impact on the travelling arrangement of passengers, “we had to make the difficult decision to return to Heathrow and delay your flight overnight.”
“We had to make a stop in Malaga so that we were able to fuel the aircraft before departing again for Heathrow,” the statement indicated further, acknowledging that “any delay can be frustrating, and we apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”
It said passengers’ new departure time and check-in information would be communicated to them via SMS as soon as the needed arrangement was done, and asked the passengers to ensure that their contact details were up to date on BA.com/manage my booking.
The British Airways officials promised to look after the luggage of the affected passengers overnight and “reload these on to your new departure,” adding, “Our focal teams at Heathrow airport have arranged overnight accommodation and transport to the hotel for you. The coaches will be waiting for you at bus stop 19. We will also arrange for you to be collected.”
BY Ernest Kofi Adu