Trip Report: Air Cote d'Ivoire - Lagos to Abidjan (December 2017)

Trip Report: Air Cote d'Ivoire - Lagos to Abidjan

comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was planning on spending New Year’s Eve in Abidjan so was looking at options to go from Lagos to Abidjan.  Most of my searches came back with ASKY Airlines which had a stopover in Lomé.  I was not looking forward to stopping, I wanted a direct flight, and I had previously flown with ASKY; so I decided to try Air Cote d’Ivoire.  Recently, the airline has taken possession of new aircraft from Airbus so I was looking forward to trying their product.

I had initially tried to purchase my ticket directly from the airline’s website, however a couple of things prevented me from doing so: 1) for a little while the booking function on the website was not functioning so this made booking a flight impossible; and 2) I was not sure if my credit card would be charged in USD or the local currency.  Given all this, I decided to book my flight through a travel website.  Once I had booked my flight, I tried to go directly to the airline’s website to manage my booking but there was no such function available.  I then contacted the airline directly via email to confirm my booking with them as well as to receive a copy of my itinerary, and the airline was very responsive as within 24 hours they had responded with my confirmed ticket. 

There was a check-in function on the website so I thought I could select my seat assignment through the check-in process.  Each time I tried, I was not able to check into my flight so I had to check-in and receive my boarding pass at the airport and this is where I also requested an aisle seat.  The flight was scheduled to depart at 9:40a and when I arrived at the gate at 9am, the operating aircraft was already there (the plane overnights in Lagos).  The operating aircraft is a Dash Q-400 propeller plane with an estimated flight time of 1hr35min.  It is not a big plane, but the airline flies mostly to regional destinations so these light aircraft are good for their route network.  Boarding started around 9:30am and we walked to the plane and boarded by the plane’s stairs.  Once onboard, the cabin looked new with new seats and updated interiors.  The plane had a small business class with a 2-1 seat layout followed by economy class with a 2-2 seat layout.  I was in economy class and the seats were slimline seats that were comfortable enough for the flight.  The seat pitch was very good; I am about 6’0 and I had plenty of room.  The seatback contained a tray table and a pocket, which contained the safety manual.  As the flight was not full, we boarded rather quickly and the boarding doors were shut for an on-time departure.  Manual safety demonstrations were conducted in both French and English, and then we taxied to the runway and took off.

Air Cote d’Ivoire is a full service airline which means each ticket includes 30kg

complimentary luggage, and they provide complimentary meals and drinks on board.  As soon as we had passed 10,000ft, the attendants came around to start their service.  They passed out boxes which, since it was morning time, contained a chocolate croissant, cookies, and juice.  While it was not a big meal, it was a nice snack that was provided given the short flight time.  Juices and tea/coffee were also served at the same time.  After the meals were cleared, the rest of the flight was left up to you.  There were no PTVs, no drop down screens, and no entertainment.  Some seatback pockets contained the airline magazine, while others didn’t; so it was up to you to pass the time.  After a bit of time, we landed in Abidjan, deplaned via stairs, and were bussed to the arrivals hall.

I was returning to Lagos with Air Cote d’Ivoire, and again I tried to check in online but again the website would not let me know.  At the airport, I requested an aisle seat in the front of the plane, checked in and received my boarding pass.  The plane was scheduled to depart Abidjan at 7:10p and arrive into Lagos at 10:10p.  I went through security and proceeded to the gate, and around 6:30p we were called for boarding.  Boarding was done through gate 1, which meant we walked downstairs to the awaiting bus which would bus us to the airplane.  

Again, it was a Dash Q-400 that was operating this flight but this

time the interior of the aircraft looked older.  The seats were still laid out in the same fashion – with 1-2 in business and 2-2 in economy – but both the seat style and comfort indicated it was an older plane.  The plane was full but it was small so the boarding doors closed on time and we taxied to the runway; this is where the trouble began.  The pilot started accelerating to take off, but then decelerating and taxied to a remote parking stand near the other planes.  No communication was given until we were waiting for a parking stand, at which time the pilot came on and said there was a ‘minor technical fault and it should be a 10 minute fix’.  We finally got to park the plane and 45 minutes later, with 4 technicians coming in and out of the plane, the boarding door closed again.  Instead of heading to the runway, we just went along the taxiway for a bit and returned back to the parking area.  The pilot came out and again, technicians went in.  And again, no communication from the staff at all.  About 15 minutes later, we were told the plane could not fly and we had to deplane; no other information was given.  As passengers were leaving, we asked what was going on and we were told that ‘passengers are being bused to another plane’.  That is the assumption we had when we got onto the bus, but that assumption was wrong.  By this time, we had been on the plane for over 2 hours without going anywhere.

What followed was a series of bad communication, mismanagement, horrendous customer service, and lack of coordination in the Abidjan airport and with the Air Cote d’Ivoire staff.  We were dropped off at arrivals and were told to stand to the side, check-in and wait; at this time we were told that the next flight would be the next morning.  After waiting there for 40 minutes with no information, we were then given ‘yellow transit cards’ and told to go upstairs back to the departure gates.  We were not told that we had to clear security again, and so many of the liquids that passengers had bought post-security had to be thrown away; it was again a series of miscommunication and mismanagement at every level.  When we had cleared security, we had no information so passengers were just told to wait.  Another 20 minutes later, we were told to go and stand in line for dinner.  There is only one restaurant that serves the airport so it was a small restaurant trying to serve us as well as the regular customers; again, it was not well managed nor well communicated.  Additionally, we were not told what food we were receiving and no dietary restrictions nor medical preferences were taken into consideration.

While passengers were standing in line, we were informed that the airline had decided to add our destination to an existing flight taking off.  Instead of the plane travelling from Abidjan to Liberville, the plane would now fly from Abidjan to Lagos to Liberville.  At first we were told the plane would be leaving at 11p – it took most passengers one hour to wait in the line and receive their dinner, so by 11p most passengers still had not eaten.  We were then informed the plane would take off at 11:30, but that time came and went and there was no announcement so we went to the screens.  The screens had three different timings for the flight; 11:30p, 11:55p, and 12:30a.  There was no communication from the airline nor the airport as to which time was correct, so most passengers just went to the gate area around 11:45p and just waited there until the boarding announcement; the boarding announcement came at 12:45a.

Boarding was extremely chaotic and mismanaged, especially since the airline did not change our boarding passes so we were still boarding with our original boarding passes.  Again, we boarded busses to take us to our aircraft.  Because of the combination, the airline was using a larger aircraft so they were using one of their new Airbus A320.  These are the newest planes in the airline’s fleet and they are only a couple of months old.  Boarding took a while because while business class were sitting in their assigned seats, we were told once we got on board that economy class was open seating; you could sit anywhere you want.  This confused many passengers who were not expecting this and having this information prior would have been helpful.  We finally boarded and the boarding door closed around 1:30am.

The Airbus A320 is laid out in a 2-2 in business class and 3-3 seats in economy.  The seats have slimline seats so they are a bit narrow, but have really good seat pitch.  There are no PTV’s on the seatback, instead there is a space where the safety card and airline magazine are held.  Beneath that is the tray table, and beneath that is another pocket to hold your personal belongings.  One nice amenity was that there were universal plugs and USB ports on the bottom of the seats in front of you, and these were on and available for charging from boarding.  After manual safety demonstrations were conducted, we pushed back and finally took off for Lagos.

The flight time to Lagos was 1 hour, so immediately after reaching cruising altitude the flight attendants came by to start their inflight service.  Given it was so late, many passengers were sleeping so I was surprised that the airline would have a full service on this flight.  The in-flight service consisted of a small meal plus complimentary drinks, juice, or water.  The meal was extremely small and not that tasty, but it was a nice addition and something that was not expected.  Once meal trays were cleared, most passengers continued to sleep for the remaining flight.  We finally landed in Lagos around 3:30am, so 5hrs behind schedule.

Overall, it was an interesting experience with Air Cote d’Ivoire.  I judge airlines on how they handle the situation when something goes wrong, not when everything goes right.  By this standard, the airline failed miserably.  While everything is going right, they are a nice airline with a nice on-board product.  When something goes wrong though, they are an airline that do not seem to have the policy, management, nor communication on how to handle these situations.  You can definitely feel the growing pains this airline is experiencing as they grow.