My experience with Max Air a domestic and international airline based in Nigeria

If you are a Nigerian that travels frequently by air you must have noticed a lot of new airlines, some succeeded while some airline companies didn't make it to the top. Nigerian flights are mostly direct flights. If you have been to Kano state from Port Harcourt city, then you should be aware that there are no direct flights from Port Harcourt to Kano. The 1st time I travelled from kano to Port Harcourt I used Azman air. It was pretty fast and kept to time. It was not a direct flight so when we stopped at Lagos state, we were directed to stay at a particular place while we wait for the time of our take off to Port Harcourt. We got port Harcourt on time and it was a smooth flight.

photo by https://www.ch-aviation.com/

I needed to book a flight back to kano from port Harcourt, so I began the search. I came across air Peace which was available but was ridiculously expensive price-wise, it was more than 60,000 naira for the local flight and it was being offered by a third party booking website. I got discouraged and decided to book a flight going to Abuja or Lagos then book another flight from there to Kano state, meaning I had to book two direct flights and flight timing in Nigeria is very delicate because most airlines fly around the same time. I closed my laptop that night feeling a bit sad about the situation. I woke up at 4am to search for flights going to Kano, I just wanted to give it one more try before taking the final decision. I went on Wikipedia to search for all the flight companies in Nigeria, that was how I discovered Maxair. I followed the link to the website and I searched for a flight going to Kano from Port Harcourt and it was available tho it wasn't a direct flight but it was a cheaper option. I booked the flight immediately to pay later in the morning.

I booked the flight without payment on the 21st of December 2019, 4:39am.

I paid for the flight in the morning and the payment confirmation was sent to me via email but the flight itinerary wasn't sent to me. I called all the numbers on their website severally but none went through. All the numbers were either switched off or the call was forwarded which never went through. I got worried and called a friend of mine working with the Nigerian immigration service to confirm if this airline actually exists and he confirmed that it does. I reached out to other people to help me try the numbers on their website and only one person was able to reach out to them later that day. The lady who answered the phone said she was at another branch and that we should call the Port Harcourt branch which wasn't going through. We insisted that she looked into the issue and explained to her that all the numbers on Maxair website are either not connecting or not available. She asked that my flight details and payment confirmation be sent to her via WhatsApp chat. It was sent and she said she was going to get back to us. We waited and also sent an email but no reply. The email was replied the next day which was the 22nd of December 2019,  the day I was supposed to fly to Kano state.

All endeavour to sort out my ticket issue failed. I decided to go early to the airport because my flight time was on a Sunday. I left home by 12:15 and got to the airport by 13: 25. My flight time was for 

DEPARTING: Date Sun 22 Dec 19 All Times Local Flight-Number Cabin (Book Class) From: Port Harcourt Departure 17:30 VM 1621 (HK) Y (R) To: Abuja Arrive 18:15

NEXT-FLIGHT:

Date	Sun 22 Dec 19		All Times Local	Flight-Number	Cabin (Book Class)
From:	Abuja	Departure	20:35	VM 1601 (HK)	Y (R)
To:	Kano	Arrive	21:20

On getting to the airport I went to Maxair stand at Port Harcourt international airport Omagwa and tabled my complaint about my flight itinerary not being sent to my email and I was asked to wait for an hour for my details to be sent to the manager in charge of flight bookings. After an hour I went back to the max air stand and they asked me to wait a while which I did. In less than 3 mins after waiting for 1-hour a man walked up to me, he works with Maxair,  he had a big smile on his face. He said to me smiling "you won't be flying today because we didn't receive your payment".  He was smiling like it was good news and that provoked me so much. I asked him how can my account be debited, payment confirmation sent to me via email and you tell me you didn't get the payment. He said I needed to contact my bank for my money.

Here are the payment confirmations.

Immediately another man working with Maxair shouted from inside, with no professional approach, just buy another ticket and ask your bank for your money, I had no choice, I needed to fly so I did. The ticket price on the 21st December 2019 which I paid for was 

Price NGN 34999.00
AP TAX QT NGN 1000.00
Fuel charges YQ NGN 3000.00
Total Price NGN 38999.00

 But I was asked to purchase another ticket on the 22nd being the day of my travel, which costs more for

Price: NGN 38999.00

AP TAX QT: NGN 1000.00

Fuel charges YQ: NGN 3000.00

Total price: NGN 42999.00

I checked-in by 15:00 pm and that was how my pain went from 50% to 100%. The flight was delayed for more than 7 hrs and I got to my destination by 12am.

I sat at the airport waiting for my boarding time when it was time no announcement was made to notify us that the flight time has been changed. It was almost an hour before the announcement was made and immediately people began to complain. We waited and the flight was delayed yet again. That was how a flight which was supposed to arrive at Abuja by 18:15 pm arrived by 21:15 pm. On getting to Abuja the flight landed and passengers stopping at Abuja left the aircraft but people on transit weren't given any instructions. We were asked to exit the flight but we weren't given any instruction as to where we should sit since our flight time to Kano was far past. We were supposed to get to Kano state by 21:20 pm but we arrived at Abuja being our 1st stop at 21:15pm. 

NEXT-FLIGHT:

Date	Sun 22 Dec 19		All Times Local	Flight-Number	Cabin (Book Class)
From:	Abuja	Departure	20:35	VM 1601 (HK)	Y (R)
To:	Kano	Arrive	21:20

We started asking airport workers what we needed to do and they asked us to go back to where the flight landed and wait beside the aircraft. We did as instructed but everything was so disorganized. Everyone was tired and less active due to the long wait. After a few mins we were asked to get back into the flight, our tickets were checked horridly and we took off by 9:56 pm and got to kano by 23:19 pm (11:19pm). I waited for my box which I received at 23:25-30 (11:25-30 pm). It was already very late. I walked to the taxi stand hoping to get a taxi but the price was ridiculously expensive which made some passengers start walking towards the gate. When I left Kano for Port Harcourt I paid  ‎₦300 to the airport main gate and  ‎₦100 inside the airport using a taxi with two other people. 

It was already late when I arrived at Mallam Aminu kano airport so I was asked to pay ₦5000 which I refused to pay but later found a taxi who carried a man I had a brief discussion with about the flight delay at the airport who also used Maxair. We were going to the same direction but my location was a little farther so I got into the same taxi and that was how I arrived home by midnight (12:00am from a journey I started by 12:00 pm at noon).

All you need to know about Maxair.

Poor and unprofessional Customer care service: Maxair offers very poor customer care service. I was the only one at the stand but they were very reluctant to attend to me. 

Poor and improper communication accessibility: I needed to put a call across to a Maxair customer care representative but all the numbers on their website weren't reachable. No problem-solving skills were put in place. Maxair customer service workers act clueless. The lady that later answered the call acted like she knew nothing about the airline.

Bad Timing: During the delay at the airport, people began to talk and speak out. That was when I found out that if an airline doesn't have the adequate number of aircraft to charter for the locations it carries passengers to, that airline tends to keep shifting time to delay in other to meet up with all the locations which it has been scheduled for that day. I checked in 2hrs before flight time. My flight time was shifted 3 times. A flight which was scheduled to arrive at 18:15 pm at its 1st stop Abuja, arrived at 21:15 pm which should be my final arrival time at kano.

Speakers inside the airline are not clear: The speakers inside Maxair airline needs to be changed. We could not hear what the pilot was saying. Everything sounded really cracked up and unclear. When we got into the flight the pilot introduced himself but I heard nothing. The pilot also said some words before landing but none was very clear.

Improper way of giving safety instructions: The flight attendant who gave the flight safety instruction was conscious of her hair so she didn't show us how to fix the air mask.  Maxair Air hostesses all looked tired. One air hostess walked like she was going to fall down.

Boring Food: After the long wait, we were served, small-sized juice, small size cake and tiny sausage roll. They also added 1 Vicks sweet.

Disorganized crew and max air airport workers at Abuja. During our stopover which was supposed to be our flight landing time at our final destination. We got to Abuja and none of Maxair workers directed us on how and where to stay while waiting for our next flight. We walked inside the airport and started asking questions. An airport worker advised that we should go back to the landing site of the aircraft which we did, that was when we saw people already boarding the flight to leave for kano we joined them and got back into the flight. No one directed us during the

stopover.

Honestly, it was a very sad and crazy Sunday for me. I got to my destination very late but thanks to God for the safe journey.

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