Arik Air passenger laments multiple-counter baggage payment process

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Arik Air

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By Dickson Omobola

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Passenger, Dr Joe Abah, has criticised the check-in and excess baggage payment process at Arik Air, saying the procedure at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1, Lagos, is cumbersome.

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Abah, who shared his experience on X, formerly Twitter, after visiting the airline’s counter at the terminal, said passengers with excess luggage were required to move between different counters several times before completing the process and obtaining their boarding passes.

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He stated that the process began with the weighing of luggage, after which a document indicating excess baggage, where applicable, was issued.

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According to him, travellers were then directed to the check-in counter, where another document was issued and they were instructed to return to the weighing counter.

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His words: “I went to the Arik Airline counter in MM1 yesterday. You first have to have your luggage weighed. After weighing it, they will give you a piece of paper showing you have excess luggage, if you do. From there, you will go to the check-in counter to check in. At the check-in counter, they will give you another piece of paper and ask you to take it back to the weighing counter.

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“From the weighing counter, they will look at the paper and ask you to go across the hall to pay a cashier. After that, the cashier will give you two other pieces of paper and ask you to take them back to the weighing counter.

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“After the weighing counter confirms payment, they will send you back to the check-in counter to collect your boarding pass. I asked them what would have happened if I had had mobility problems. I told them that the civil service does not do things like this and that I didn’t understand why Arik needed to inconvenience passengers this much simply because they don’t trust their staff. They stared at me blankly. I couldn’t be too harsh on them because they were just doing what they were asked to do. It is why some of us are often irked by the arrogance of some who believe that everything in the private sector is superior to the public sector.”

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