It is a very particular misadventure experienced by this Algerian entrepreneur based in the United Kingdom. Hakim Ait Abderrahim runs the Scarlett Letter House publishing house in London. Invited as an exhibitor at the next International Book Fair in Algiers (from March 24 to 31), he experienced all the trouble in the world to return home.
Having found no online booking between London and Algiers, the Algerian entrepreneur decided to head to London Heathrow airport to register on the waiting list.
The first hitch, it is not an employee of Air Algérie who takes charge of his request but an official of the airport. He writes down his first and last name in pen and is told that he will be called back around noon, ie 2 hours before take-off.
Air Algerie criticized
As a precaution, Hakim Ait Abderrahim goes to the check-in counter to notify his waiting list registration to the station manager, an Air Algérie employee. He explains his situation and indicates his participation in SILA as an exhibitor (in the central pavilion). Note that at that time, Hakim Ait Abderrahim’s books were already in Algiers.
After 2 hours of waiting, no news reached him.
Through his testimony, Hakim Ait Abderrahim wanted to denounce the lack of communication on the part of Air Algérie, but also the privileges and the lack of respect suffered by customers.
He believes that at the price of tickets from the national airline, the least we can do is show more transparency and professionalism.
A brake on investment from the diaspora
The Algerian entrepreneur believes that it is this kind of behavior that curbs the ardor of Algerian investors abroad. This ” sabotage “, as he describes it, discredits national skills and handicaps the country’s development. Especially since in his case, it is “ an exhibitor for a Salon who brings knowledge to the country and tries to popularize it”, he says.
According to Ait Abderrahim, after SILA would have been “the installation of printing works in order to produce English editions locally and thus reduce its imports”. He adds: “It costs us less to produce and pay the royalties than to import the finished product”.
