Aviation Experts have described as shocking the decision of the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia, to cancelled the visa of all 264 passengers and the deportation of 177 passengers airlifted by Air Peace on arrival in Jeddah.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP, they demanded the intervention of the federal government to protect the airline and passengers from the government of Saudi-Arabia.
LEADERSHIP gathered that Air Peace had airlifted 264 passengers from Kano, on Monday, to Jeddah but the Saudi Arabia authority insisted that the airline should return them back to Nigeria.
The flight which took off from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos via the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano on Sunday night and arrived in Saudi Arabia’s major city on Monday without issues but on landing, the Saudi Arabia authorities announced that all the passengers’ visas were cancelled.
Speaking on the issue, the chief executive officer, Centurion Aviation Security and Safety Consult, Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), said the action of the Saudi authority was shocking.
He, however, attributed the action of the Saudis to aero politics and diplomacy and urged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should step in immediately and intervene in the case.
He said that what happened showed why it is important for the Nigerian government to stand strongly with any Nigerian carrier designated to operate international destinations.
Ojikutu said that Nigeria should designate Nigerian airlines approved to operate out of the country as flag carriers, noting that the United States has no national carrier but all the airlines are supported by the government and are designated as flag carriers.
“The action of the Saudi Authorities is shocking. There is aero politics there and there is also diplomacy. There is the need for the Nigerian government to stand firmly with Nigerian carriers and also designate them as flag carriers; so that other countries will know that they represent Nigeria.
“Government must come out and intervene.
The government must be behind Air Peace now to ensure that it is not denied its rights as contained in the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must not keep quiet. Nigeria must not keep quiet. Ideally, the government is expected to stand behind any of the country’s airlines that it designates to fly overseas,” Ojikutu said.
Also speaking, the general secretary, Aviation Round Table Initiative (ARTI), Olumide Ohunayo, said the government should step in and ensure justice is gotten for the airline and the passengers deported.
According to him, the airlines suffered losses in aviation fuel, equipment, materials and human resources deployed on the route.
He, however, wondered how the Saudi-Arabia authorities could deport Nigerians when Nigeria President, Bola Tinubu, was given assurance of improved trade relations during a recent visit to the kingdom.
“In this situation, the federal government must step in because reciprocity cannot work here. Saudi-Arabia citizens do not come to Nigeria the way we go there so reciprocity cannot work and if we stop Saudi airlines from coming then we may have a strong revolt.
“The passengers are Nigerians who are cleared to travel so the government should step in and ensure they get justice for those passengers and for the airline. Air Peace is carrying the Nigeria flag and it didn’t designate itself to that route, the government gave the airline authority to fly the routes also, it was a scheduled flight that was approved. The government should step in and ensure protection because they can’t suffer losses by wasting their Jet A1, material and equipment only to be treated poorly,” he stated.
However, sources had said that it was a way to force the operator out of the route, saying the government should intervene by adopting the principle of reciprocity.
A source who craved anonymity said all the passengers and the airline personnel were shocked at the cancellation of the visas because, during check-in, the passengers went through the Advanced Passenger Prescreening System (APPS), which was also monitored by the Saudi Arabia authorities before the flight left Nigeria.
She, however, wondered whether what happened was a strategy to discourage the airline from operating to the destination because since it started the operation, it has been recording high load factors and even the flight expected to leave on Tuesday to Jeddah was already fully booked.
When the Nigerian embassy waded in, Saudi authorities were said to have reduced the number of passengers that would be returned to 177 from 264.
The source said, “Saudi Air has been operating directly from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia and since Air Peace started flight service to the Middle East nation at relatively lower fares, it has been receiving high patronage and as a Nigerian carrier, it helps to conserve foreign exchange for the country.”
However, another source from the Nigerian embassy in Jeddah said that even the Saudi immigration personnel said that they didn’t know who cancelled the visas but that they were cancelled when the airline was already airborne to Jeddah.
The source said, “The airline was exonerated in all this as the Advanced Passenger Prescreening System(APPS) which is live between both countries would have screened out any invalid visa and its passenger. The system accepted all affected passengers and passed them on.”
“They are on their way to Nigeria now,” the source said.
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