Arik Air bridges Accra and Abuja

By -
Last month, I flew to Abuja for the first time. I'd always wanted to visit Abuja to see what a 'planned city' in Africa looked like. When I knew that the +World Economic Forum event in Africa for 2014 would be held in Abuja, Nigeria, I knew this was my chance to visit the Nigerian capital. As the time for SHAPE Africa drew closer, I was wary that I might not attend because of the attendant flight costs. +Arik Air came to save the day, pretty much. Details about that would come in a later post. Arik Air things :-)
We all have bad customer service days. The same can't be said of May 3, 2014 with the +Arik Air employees at the Kotoka airport. First, I got to use their PC to share my excitement at finally flying to Abuja. I was flying with fellow +Global Shapers Accra members +Donald Ward +Emmanuel A. Gamor and +Yawa Hansen-Quao. We were being sponsored by Arik and only had to pay taxes which amounted to a very manageable amount. Though we had a few issues with our tickets, the Arik Air folks at Kotoka were so calm, collected and helpful and sorted us out. We were #SHAPEAfrica bound!
So we had very happy faces by the time we boarded the Arik flight. Not quite sure we didn't take a selfie here.
Donald wasn't sitting with the three of us but he was equally happy. He was sitting next to a lady who'd recognized my +Harvard University African Business Conference t-shirt from this year. Arik sponsored that conference and gave me a discount on my ticket as I was a panelist at the #HBSABC.
This is pretty major and can't be discounted. The Abuja airport looked really nice too, definitely better than the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos. This was a great image showing all the places Arik flies to around Nigeria and around West Africa. We need a great West African airline and Arik is on its way to that. It comes with growing pains but I believe they and their customers will be better of for it. It needs to happen fast though.
I flew Arik from Accra to New York through Lagos earlier in March for the Africa Business Conference. I paid more than $1000 even after a discount. This was after taxes. But you can get a better deal. The tweet above is evidence.
We surely had a smooth flight returning to Accra as the one we took to Abuja. We didn't get the perks of the previous flight. But that's a story for another day :-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Official Pick-up lines to try out for fun

By -
A friend and I were discussing pick up lines the other day and if they do work, etc. They've been a few that I've wanted to use but I haven't mustered enough courage to try them. I'm still collecting my thoughts for that blog entry on women too. Earlier today, I realised my cousin had tagged me in some note full of pick-up lines and that list was hilarious. I have now run out of excuses to try some pick-up lines. After all, what do I have to lose? Don't I want to actually see what will happen? Won't I have some juicy stories to tell? I would, that's why I will be picking out of these pick-up lines next time I am inna di club or some other appropriate or unappropriate location. So here goes - I can't find my puppy, can you help me find him? I think he went into this cheap motel room. Let's do breakfast tomorrow. Should I call you or nudge you? Yo Baby, you be my Dairy Queen, I'll be your Burger King, you treat me right, and I'll do it yo...
Read more

Learnt how to say "What is your name" & "My name is" in 23 African languages

By -
Depending on which country I am in and who I am speaking to, I can have 1 out of about 7 names. You probably know my real one, but you do know my Ugandan , Kenyan , Nigerian , Ethiopian , Tanzanian and South African ones? Or my real other name which I use to call myself when I meet some lucky lady I feel like saying it to? Just in case, you happen to be in certain place or country and you feel you have to pull one of these out, let's learn how to say " What is your name " and " My name is " in 23 African languages. :-) Thanks to my friends who helped me pull this list together recently as I had missed writing blog posts such as these. Akan: Wo din de s É› n?   Me din de .. Yeah, name in Twi is "din". It might be more popular to hear people say  Y É› fr É›  wo s É› n? &  Y É› fr É› me ... which directly translates to "What do we call you? & We call me...  Ga: Te ats É› É”  kbo t É› Å‹ Å‹ ? Ats É› É”  mi..  I learnt this once but I don...
Read more

Learnt how to say "Thank You" in 23 African languages

By -
Today, I learnt how to say "Thank You" in yet another African language. So let me take a stab at seeing if I can say "Merci" in 23 African languages. And let's share some small attendant info. :-) Akan: Medaase . What you thought I wouldn't add my mother tongue? Some folks can't say what "thank you" is in their lingua francas. Such a fracas. Don't belittle this at all at all. Ga: Oyiwaladonn . I don't remember when I learnt this but I do know I learnt to say "Nnuu Ga" (I can't speak Ga) during the time I came to Accra to represent KNUST JSS in Kiddie Quiz and me and my Kumasi-living mates were testing our Ga knowledge. Ewe: Akpe . I love saying "Akpe kakaa" and I am not sure why. Dagbani: Ti pagi da . Yeap, Jemila Abdulai taught me this one. Thrice. You can also say Mpagya . Hausa: Na gode . I should have known this a long time ago but thanks to Manre Chirtau, I will not forget this one. Ever. Alafia lo! S...
Read more