Business
We didn’t abandon passengers at Gatwick, Air Peace debunks social media post
A Nigerian airline, Air Peace, has debunked claims that on April 8, 2024, it abandoned passengers at Gatwick Airport, London, and shut down the counter before closing time because its aircraft was overbooked.
Reacting to a social media video where the allegation was made, the airline said it was untrue, describing it as an attempt to deliberately tarnish its reputation.
The airline explained that the airport operates by slot timings allocated to each of the airlines operating out of the airport, adding that the check-in operations of airlines were slot-based and airlines take turns based on their approved times.
“Once your slot timing is up, you must vacate the counters for the next airline’s utilisation. The check-in process ends at 09:00 AM, as advised in the terms and conditions section of our e-ticket and website, and the counter was vacated by Air Peace in accordance with our slot allocation at 09:55 AM,” the airline said.
It added: “To prevent missed flights, we send multiple reminders to passengers before departure (24hrs, 14 hrs, and 6 hrs prior). Flight departure was scheduled for 11:10 am, and all processes adhered to this time.
“The claim of flight overbooking is untrue. Both the UK and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities can verify our manifest. Some seats were unoccupied on departure, proving no overbooking occurred.
“CCTV from Gatwick Airport shows when the passenger arrived at our counter and when the video was made. The late passenger paid the no-show fee and was rebooked on a subsequent flight, resolving the issue at the airport. Air Peace strives to serve passengers effectively but requires adherence to specific times for seamless travel.”
Business
NDIC increases banks’ deposit insurance coverage from N500k to N5m
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has increased deposit insurance coverage for all licensed deposit-taking financial institutions.
NDIC disclosed this in a post on its Facebook page on Thursday.
Deposit insurance protects depositors’ funds in the event of a bank failure.
Bello Hassan, NDIC managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), said the deposit insurance coverage for commercial banks was increased from N500,000 to N5 million.
Hassan said the increase provides coverage for 98.98 percent of depositors in Nigeria.
Business
Naira drops to N1,370/$ at parallel market, gains marginally at official window
The naira declined to N1,370 against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday.
This represents a 1.48 percent depreciation from N1,350 traded on April 29.
Currency traders, also known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, put the buying rate of the greenback at N1,330 and the selling price at N1,370 — leaving a profit margin of N40.
At the official window, the local currency appreciated by 1.98 percent to N1,390 on April 30 — from N1,419.11 on April 29.
During trading, the exchange rate rose as high as N1,450 and as low as N1,200 according to data from FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees FX trading in Nigeria.
The naira devaluation has continued to pose significant challenges to firms, cutting deep into profit margins and eroding shareholders’ dividends.
On April 30, Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, said the devaluation of naira created the “biggest mess” for the company in 2023.
“We are doing whatever it takes to make sure that at the end of the day, we will be paying dividends because if you look at our dividends last year, it was almost 50 percent more so we will try and get out of the mess,” Dangote said.
“The biggest mess created was actually the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400.”
He said almost 97 percent of the companies, especially in food and beverages businesses, will not pay dividends this year due to the FX constraints.
Business
NNPC says fuel queues would be cleared today
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has informed the public that the current fuel shortages and the accompanying queues will be resolved by Wednesday.
Olufemi Soneye, Chief Communications Officer at NNPCL, shared this information with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
He stated that the company has more than 1.5 billion litres of fuel in stock, sufficient to last for at least 30 days.
“Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.
“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.
“Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximize profits.
“Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain.
“The lines will be cleared out between today and tomorrow,” Soneye assured.
-
News1 week ago
FAAN reopens Lagos airport runway after Dana Air incident
-
Crime2 days ago
UK-based Nigerian doctor, Tijion Esho loses licences over sex for free Botox injections
-
News5 days ago
‘Mischievous narrative’ — Yahaya Bello’s media office reacts to ‘American school refunding $760k’ claim
-
News1 week ago
Nigeria Air: EFCC vows to arraign Sirika over alleged contract fraud
-
Education1 week ago
UNN suspends, probes lecturer attempting to sexually assault female student
-
Entertainment2 days ago
Gunmen abduct singer Gnewzy in Delta, demand $200k ransom
-
Entertainment5 days ago
Family announces burial arrangements for junior pope
-
World1 week ago
Nigerian lady Clara Chizoba Kronborg certified as world record holder for longest interviewing marathon