The Federal High Court in Lagos will on October 22 hear a lawsuit filed by a security expert, Alhaji Ahmed Rabiu, against Virgin Atlantic Airways over an alleged breach of contract and the loss of his luggage.
The hearing, initially set for yesterday, was adjourned because the airline failed to file its defence in time.
In the suit, Rabiu is seeking $4,000 to cover the value of items lost in his luggage, N20 million in damages for distress, inconvenience and legal fees incurred while trying to recover his luggage which allegedly disappeared on a Virgin Atlantic Airways flight from London to Lagos on September 24, 2024.
The plaintiff also told the court that contrary to the airline’s claims, he was neither compensated for his lost luggage nor was it replaced.
He also argued in his statement of claim that his lawsuit was valid and well-founded, as the defendant has not denied that he lost his luggage while using their airline.
In its defence, the airline blamed its inability to trace and locate the plaintiff’s luggage on his failure to provide adequate information on the Property Irregularity Form given to him after he reported the loss.
The defendant also stated in its statement of defence that the plaintiff’s allegations of fraud, recklessness and negligence against the airline, its staff and its agents were false.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, the passenger averred that he boarded flight No. CNY3JV from London-Heathrow, United Kingdom, to Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos after undergoing rigorous security checks; he was properly checked in, along with his tagged prime luggage, by the defendant’s operational staff.
But after the plane landed in Lagos, he waited at the conveyor belt from the moment the baggage carousel was activated until it was switched off, and every other passenger on the flight picked up their luggage and left except him.
The plaintiff also maintained that he immediately informed the defendant’s staff on the ground and he was given the defendant’s Loss of Baggage form to fill out and submit, which he did immediately, but that the airline neither gave him his luggage nor replaced the same or better still, pay for the value of the contents of his luggage.
