Nigeria’s major private airline, Air Peace Arline, has commenced direct flight from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to London Heathrow Airport.
Minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, led passengers and dignitaries in the inaugural direct flight of the airline from Abuja airport on Sunday.
Keyamo, in a letter dated August 1, 2024, to the UK Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh, requested that a Nigerian carrier be granted landing rights at Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
In a statement by his media aide, Tunde Moshood, the minister noted that the commencement of the flight was rooted in the mandate from President Bola Tinubu that local carriers be supported to thrive and survive.
According to him, “With that mandate in our right hand we went to work. We dug deep to discover the problems of local operators over the years.
“The mortality rate in our aviation sector for more than 40 years has been very high, over 100 airlines have come and gone. Concord, Belview, Sosoliso, Chanchangi, name them. So we had a clear mandate to ensure that we support the growth, sustenance and competitiveness of our local operators.
“If you destroy the private sector in your country, you destroy the country. Every good economy thrives on the wealth and well-being of the private sector because they are the greatest employer of labour and engine of growth.
“We have done all we can within our powers to give our local operators the muscle and leverage for fair competition. International airlines have been coming to Nigeria for nearly 90 years on some routes, lifting passengers back and forth without our operators fully participating. Under our Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), we have rights too, but no capacity, no access, no slot at Heathrow. Today that changes.”
Meanwhile, chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyeama, lauded the minister for his intervention and support to local airlines.
He said: “I could remember when the Customs brought in a four per cent FOB charge for our imports; aviation operators, we went to the minister and he stepped into it immediately.
“He took the matter to the finance minister and to customs and within one week, the four per cent FOB was removed for Nigerian airlines. So, tell me why I will not support or applaud this government?
“This government has proven that it listens to the yearnings and aspirations of the people, the complaints and challenges of the people, and that is what we need. When Nigerian helicopter-airline owners cried to the minister about a certain charge, he removed it on the spot to make life very easy for these airlines. So it’s not just about Air Peace.”
