View Full Version : Never again on Air Algerie
I must say that I was and Still am very dissappointed in the treatment of Air Algerie to me as a passenger from Paris to Constantine in Late February 2005.
The Flight was scheduled to land in Constantine in the evening, due to bad Weather we were diverted to Annabah...After struggling to get through immigration, in Annabah 250km away...NO one was available in the Airport from Air Algerie to assist me (23h00, airport about to close!!) with getting to Constantine or even getting accomodation in Annabah. I expected to be greeted by Air Algerie Personnel offering a hotel and a flight or even a bus trip to Constantine....Is this an IATA member Airline?....
I ended up staying at the Hotel Saybouse. Then the Next Day my Colleague drove from Constantine to pick me up and we then had to drive to Setif... total of 500km drive !!!
Also once on the Aircraft the treatment was like Cattle...Everyone foced into the rear of the Aircraft...although my seat assignment was 2A. I Paid more than 1000USD for this short flight was treated like a begger..... ended up in 34C !
Never Again...
Re-Heat
26th Apr 2005, 17:48
PPRuNe expands its remit as a customer complaint forum...
PAXboy
26th Apr 2005, 18:23
Check the fine print of the Terms & Conditions of Carriage as published by the carrier.
Before your next trip, make sure that you have good travel insurance.
Your experience may not have been pleasant but is entirely typical of the experience of travelling by air these days.
Trentino
26th Apr 2005, 18:35
What you will find is that over time just about any airline out there will be dissapointing at one point. No airline can provide 100 percent consistant service no matter how stringent their quality control is. Personally I have flown on one carrier as a pax over 100 times and I must say that the service varied from me feeling like I was cattle all the way to feeling like I was the king.
I am quite sure that if you flew the same carrier on a different day and under different circumstances there would be no need to post this on the Professional PILOT Rumour Network.
Freeway
26th Apr 2005, 19:30
ddd- i'm afraid its a lesson that you will just have to chalk up to experience.
Air Algerie....... caveat emptor!!
Konkordski
26th Apr 2005, 20:47
Er...just a minor point but Algeria has previously been a contender for the most dangerous country on earth, with a reputation for the sort of lawlessness and lack of respect for human life that you'd be hard-pushed to find outside of a civil war theatre. I was once advised that hanging around the Kasbah for more than five minutes could be seriously bad for your health. Customer service on the national airline? I'd have been grateful for making it to the airport without getting my throat cut. :uhoh:
Anti Skid On
26th Apr 2005, 21:33
ddd, may I suggest the best to post your comments is here (http://www.airlinequality.com/)
Firestorm
27th Apr 2005, 08:58
Wouldn't you be better off ranting to someone at the company taht you work for, or that you contracted to? I know that alot of the companies that work in Algeria refuse to use Air Algerie and organise thier own charters, ranging from G4s to A320s, and sell spare seats on those charters to other companies. Try Shell, Anadarko, BP, in fact any of the American or British companies, but most definitely not the French ones.
Anyway, it's Algeria: malesh habibi :) As Konkordski said, you got their in one piece: count your blessings.
cwatters
27th Apr 2005, 17:08
I expected to be greeted by Air Algerie Personnel offering a hotel and a flight or even a bus trip to Constantine
Do you expect Air Algerie to keep people at all airports just in case one of their planes needs to divert there?
If not I wonder how they might have got there before you? You were using the fastest mode of transport available and you had a head start.
What happened to the other passengers?
Skidz
29th Apr 2005, 00:00
Welcome to Algeria !
Air Algerie is notorious for the bad treatment of pax in cattle class. As for your seat number, even if one is on your ticket, in reality economy seating is first come first served on this airline. That's why you see the locals crowding the check-in counters an hour before boarding starts. Word to the wise: Never accept to fly economy on AH. When flying into Algeria from abroad, use Air France or British Airways whenever possible. Foreign airlines fly to Algiers, Oran and Tamanrasset, and some limited chartered flights to some of the oil patch cities. Interior air travel is monopolized by Air Algerie.
As for travelling between cities, avoid travel after dark. People still get shot by rebels sometimes. Setif is close to one of the "hot zones", so beware...
Flying Mech
30th Apr 2005, 18:37
Better still dont go there at all. Algeria is just another dangerous Godforsaken African sh**hole. If you have Life Insurance/morgtage protection you will find that your Insurance company will have Algeria up there on its No Go list along with Iraq and Colombia to mention but a few. The Dollars maybe good there but from my experience its not worth it. I did a contract for Khalifa based in Algiers and staying in the Sheraton a few years back,Bandits used to dress up as cops ,mount roadblocks &shoot /kidnap Civilians/Expats on a Daily basis and then dissappear again so even commuting to the Airport was dodgy under Armed escort. There are safer & easir albeit slightly less financially rewarding ways to make a living but on the flip side your chances of living to see another day are a hell of a lot greater outside of Algeria than inside it. Just bear this advice in mind and ask yourself is it really worth it?
Rabid Dog
11th May 2005, 03:17
I must commend you on your courage for even thinking of flying on Air Algerie!
I list them up there with Air Burma, CAAC etc.
RD.
<<I list them up there with Air Burma, CAAC >>
At least Air Algerie exists.
Actually, I had the dubious pleasure of working for Air Algerie for a couple of years in the 80s and flew Algiers – LHR all to frequently.
They had a very interesting quirk after the mad rush of free seating boarding in Algiers.
Once everyone had eventually found a seat there would be a PA announcement along the lines of “Smoking seats on this flight are on the left/right” (apparently dependant upon the lunar cycle or something equally confusing).
Chaos reigned.