<<Print>>The British Airways office in London has debunked assertions that staff of the airline did not work well to ensure the safety of their passengers and that customers on board BA flights are neither secured nor safe.
This came in the wake of six peoples suspected to have aided Nayele Ametefe, the Ghanaian – Austrian woman who was found guilty and sentenced by a London Crown Court in January this year were all freed by an Accra Circuit Court.
The Isleworth Crown Court in Middlesex, London, jailed Miss Ametefe on January 6, 2015 this year for trafficking 12 kilograms of cocaine into the United Kingdom in November 2014.
A Press Secretary at the British Airways (BA) Office in London, Mr. Jordan Floyd explaining to graphiconline in London noted that safety and security of BA customers are always its top priority, adding that once their business thrives on the patronage of customers, their safety becomes key for the airline.
He however noted that ‘security checks at airports, including those on items of hand luggage, are the responsibility of local airport authorities and customs officials, and not British Airways’ employees.’
Nayele Ametefe was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on November 10, 2014 with cocaine weighing 12.5kgs, which was later determined by the Crown Court as 12 kilos and not 12.5 kilos worth millions of dollars.
She was on board a British Airways flight number BA 078 from Accra to London and upon her arrival at the Heathrow International Airport in London, she was arrested by the airport authorities.
Media reports indicated, “In her possession were two (2) suitcases. Only one (1) of the suitcases was checked in (Baggage tag number BA 059801) and nothing of interest was found. In the other suitcase, which was believed to be hand carried onto the plane, 10kgs of cocaine was found among her clothing. The cocaine was reported to have been wrapped in one-kilo blocks. In her hand bag, she had further two (2) kilos (blocks)."
It was noted that Miss Ametefe travelled on a first class ticket using travel miles on British Airways point. The ticket had been purchased on October 8, 2014 and had been altered three times.
It was also revealed in court on the day of her sentence by her defense lawyer Mr. James Scobie QC that Nayele was carting the drug to South America and that what was found on her was not meant to be consumed in the UK as her travelling itinerary suggested that she was leaving London in two days from the day she was arrested to the Dominican Republic.
This issue raised a lot of security concerns among the Ghanaian traveling public but Mr. Floyd insisted that there was no need for such concerns as BA considers the safety and security of passengers as key in their business.
He was tight-lipped on whether or not some of the BA staff in Accra have faced any disciplinary machinery as a result of the Miss Ametefe’s cocaine saga.
He would also not speak on figures of passenger as dropped or increased on the Accra – London route due to the incident but noted that “we do not release figures for passenger numbers by individual route.”
Pressing for more answers in relations to the matter Mr., Floyd said, “as this matter resulted in criminal proceedings that have since been determined, we would not be in a position to comment any further.