Foremost human rights Lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has called for the suspension of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic from operating in Nigeria over breach of the nation’s Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).
Falana while speaking at the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Abuja, said the suspension shouldn’t be lifted until Nigerian indigenous airline, Air Peace, is allowed to operate the Lagos-London route.
According to Falana, BASA allowed for reciprocity of flight operations on the route by designated airlines in line with the agreement signed by both countries.
According to him, it was out of place and unfair for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to be allowed to continue flying into Nigeria without any Nigerian airline flying to London in return.
He observed that Air Peace has proven it has the capacity to operate on international routes, adding that the airline currently flies to China, Israel, India and South Africa among others using modern aircraft comparable to those of its foreign competitors.
“If Air Peace is not allowed to fly to London, then British Airways and Virgin Atlantic should be stopped from flying to Nigeria,” he stated.
