Eyewitnesses said the businessman, identified only as Mikai’l, who was travelling with his wife and two infants, had purchased two adult and two infant Business Class tickets.
A Max Air flight scheduled from Abuja to Kano on Sunday descended into chaos after a passenger engaged in a heated confrontation with airline staff and cabin crew.
The incident occurred on Sunday at the Aminu Kano International Airport, disrupting the flight and delaying its departure by more than an hour.
SaharaReporters learnt that the aircraft, initially scheduled to depart at 7:30am, eventually took off at 9:05am.
Eyewitnesses said the businessman, identified only as Mikai’l, who was travelling with his wife and two infants, had purchased two adult and two infant Business Class tickets.
They reported that he later discovered the aircraft operating the flight “had no Business Class cabin,” despite payment for the premium seats.
Passengers said Mikai’l narrated that the airline staff claimed the aircraft available for the flight were “all economy” and premium economy, and that his original seat had been swapped “for influential figures.”
One source recounted that a staff member confronted him, asking, “Do you know who the seat was allocated to?”
The ticket issued to Mikai’l reportedly showed seat D1 C1, corresponding to the first row on the right side of the aircraft. He insisted the change of aircraft “should not hamper the seating arrangements,” adding, “instead, the airline allegedly reassigned the front-row seats to accommodate a VIP.”
When boarding commenced and he noticed the seat he had paid for was empty, Mikai’l decided to occupy it with his family. “Boarding was almost complete, and he simply sat in the seat he paid for,” an eyewitness said.
SaharaReporters learnt that the station manager Bello Ramalan then instructed cabin crew to move him to a new seat assigned at the counter. When Mikai’l refused, the manager allegedly ordered security operatives to evict him.
An eyewitness said, “While he was seated, the manager came in and asked the crew to move him to a back seat in the third row.”
The situation was ultimately resolved after intervention by some lawmakers, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, and Senator Lawan Shuaibu.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, the station manager, Bello Ramalan, provided the airline’s version of events, emphasising the procedural context of the aircraft change.
He said: “My name is Bello Ramalan, Station Manager of Max Air Kano Airport.
"According to Mr. Mikail's explanation, it's true that he bought his ticket for himself and his wife with two infants to and fro Abuja to Kano business class.
"And fortunately, when he was going back to Abuja on 7th, 7.30 flight, the aircraft had been changed to a classless aircraft, no business class on that. And he wasn't the only person that bought the ticket for business class.
"So the issue is, what we normally do if we have changed an aircraft from business class aircraft to a classless, or economy class. We normally downgrade people to the economy and give them back their change.
"Or we will tell them that they have changed their ticket. Anytime they want to issue a ticket, they should not buy a fresh ticket. They should use that same ticket and they have additional, remaining change so that they will put on top, they will top up the money and buy a ticket.
"Thank God, Mr. Mikai’l was not the only person that had business class on their flights. He wasn't told until he came to the counter. So when he came, he had his seat number. According to him, he said he had seat number D1 C1, which we couldn't see there. We asked him for evidence.
"He doesn't have any evidence for that. So if we change an aircraft from business class to classless, all economy, everybody that booked online, It will drop automatically.
"That is the policy of the reservation system. That's our system that will normally book tickets. So the seat or the seat for anybody that booked previously, will drop. Whoever does is going to buy a fresh ticket.
"So when he came to the counter, he was angry. You know, our first priority is to make passengers happy. And passengers are always right everywhere. We took our time for more than 30 minutes to explain to him. He wasn't the only person, as I said.
"There were like five people I met. I talked to them. I explained to them and they understood and they agreed. One of them, too, has number 1A on his seat number. So when I told him this is what happened, he agreed. We had three different senators on that flight. Three different senators and they all agreed. The other senator, the third one, wasn't aware that they had changed aircraft.
"It was at the counter. The person that collected his boarding pass, he just saw that they downgraded him. So he was angry that they did not explain to him. I went to him. I I apologised for not explaining because we normally send text messages.
"But unfortunately, some people did not see the message. Some people saw the message. We have sent the message. Same Mikaela, I'm sure he did not see the message. So when he came to the counter, my staff took a very long time, more than 40 minutes, explaining to him.
"We apologised because we inconvenienced him. Quite all right, we're at fault.”