The federal government has threatened to ban British Airways from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, over alleged breach of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).
This was disclosed by the minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, over the weekend, at the annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC).
According to Keyamo, the ban was due to the refusal of the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA) to allow Air Peace to fly directly to Heathrow International Airport London.
He said the ministry had written to his counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting to allow Air Peace or any other Nigerian carrier operating to London to use Heathrow, irrespective of slot issue as claimed by the airport managers in the UK.
Keyamo disclosed that the ministry was awaiting a response from the ministry in the UK, threatening that the failure of the ministry to consent to this request may lead to the banishment of British Airways out of Lagos to any other airport within the country.
He, however, insisted that countries must abide by the BASA arrangement that Nigeria reached with their governments, saying that failure to do this may lead to a reactive action from the Nigerian government.
Keyamo insisted that air connectivity and codeshare arrangements are easier and better at Heathrow Airport, rather than the London Gatwick International Airport the airline currently flies to.
“We have already written to the United Kingdom to give Nigerian carriers, especially Air Peace Heathrow Airport, which is a tier one airport, just as we have British Airways, using our Lagos airport. We may as well give BA Ilorin to operate to. When we asked for Heathrow Airport, you’re telling us to go to a slot committee. Who does that? Air Peace I can tell you is on its way to Heathrow away from Gatwick.
“The local operators are struggling to cover their routes locally, not to talk of our international routes; Air France is coming here 10 times a week, we are not going to Paris, Lufthansa is coming here, we are not going to Frankfurt, Delta and United from America are all coming here, but we are not reciprocating. Even, South African Airways is coming here, we are not going there.
“We only managed to have Air Peace in London and to Gatwick, but we are pushing for them to take us to Heathrow. You can’t tell us you have a slot committee. Your airport operator should know that you have an existing relationship and they should respect it.
“For connectivity, people prefer Heathrow. That is an airport you can have an airline to codeshare with so that there can be connectivity.”
Also, Keyamo informed that the government was planning a state-of-the-art Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for the industry.
According to him, numerous foreign investors from Arab, China, Europe and America are willing to invest in the industry, especially the MRO business.
Keyamo assured that very soon, the ministry would advertise for partnership in the project and urged Nigerian investors to take the advantage by investing in the sub-sector.
He said: “For us, we are looking at various issues; MROs. People are already talking to us, we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag. Very soon we are going to advertise to call for partnership in the project.
“For our banks, financial institutions, financers, and others, don’t say foreigners are coming to take your business, it’s a big business. If we bring them in, we will take all the aircraft in West and Central Africa and even a part of Southern Africa if we can get the MRO into Nigeria.
“The Arabs, Chinese, Europeans and Americans; they all want to invest and they are talking to us. And something about MRO is that you can’t invest it in an independent environment, but an existing airport. You will need a runway for an aircraft to land. So, you need to talk to us to give you land within our international airports.”
Besides, he assured that the government would ensure strict adherence to the Cape Town Convention on aircraft leasing and ensured that agreements reached with lessors by Nigerian airlines are complied with.
He also decried the high mortality rate among Nigerian airlines, but insisted that the government would continue to create an enabling environment for them to thrive.
Keyamo further attributed the high airfares in the local market to reduced aircraft capacity by Nigerian airlines, but said the government would assist the airlines to grow.
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