The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has written to the UK authorities to formally complain about the denial of permission for Air Peace to fly to Heathrow Airport. Nigeria’s national airline Air Peace currently flies to Gatwick Airport, a second-tier airport due to slotting.
In a letter dated August 1, 2024, to UK Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace is not allocated slots at London Heathrow Airport, Nigeria will be forced to provide slots to British Airways and Virgin Atlantic “reciprocate” by denying them access to airports in Lagos and Abuja.
Heathrow is the UK’s main airport, but Nigerian airline Air Peace currently operates from Gatwick, a second-tier airport.
All efforts by Air Peace to acquire slots at Heathrow Airport, closer to central London, have failed. The minister had said a few weeks ago that the Federal Government had written to the UK to allow Nigerian airlines, particularly Air Peace, to operate flights to Heathrow Airport.
The minister, speaking at a seminar by the Association of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos, said Nigeria would no longer tolerate its airlines being denied access to major airports abroad under the Bilateral Air Transport Agreement (BASA). If Air Peace is denied service to Heathrow Airport, Nigeria may have to support British Airways and other airlines to operate flights to Ilorin, Kano, and other remote locations.
