The House of Representatives during plenary on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 passed a motion to compel Virgin Atlantic to compensate its passengers over unfair treatment.
Honourable Rotimi Agunsoye raised the motion to call the attention of his colleagues to the treatment of passengers who were on a Virgin Atlantic flight, VS412, on August 9, 2021.
The passengers travelled from Lagos to London, a six-hour trip, but were not offered refreshment by the British airline, Agunsoye complained.
"Throughout the flight, no refreshment was served to passengers including children, leaving them famished and weak by the time they arrived at their destination," he said.
The lawmaker noted that the failure to offer refreshment to the passengers was likely due to an industrial strike in Lagos, but he was displeased the airline offered no explanations or expressed sympathy to passengers.
He proposed that the airline be made to offer compensation to the affected passengers to ease the pain experienced from the August flight.
He further proposed another resolution that the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) ensure all local and international flight services operating in Nigerian airports comply with international best practices.
His motion was seconded by Honourable Jobe Abdul Kadir, and passed by members present during Tuesday's plenary.
The House Committee on Aviation was also mandated to ensure compliance with the directives, and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.