Slot issues in the UK may force the Federal Government to deny British Airways flights from Nigeria’s main airport, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
The UK slot system has forced Nigerian airline Air Peace to operate at Gatwick instead of Heathrow, the UK’s No.1 airport.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo said on Friday that his ministry has written to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow Air Peace to operate flights to London’s Heathrow airport. This will accommodate the reciprocity principle of the Bilateral Air Transport Agreement (BASA).
According report, Air Peace began direct flights to the UK’s Gatwick airport in March this year after a lengthy battle with authorities over Heathrow slots.
However, Keyamo speaking at the 28th annual conference of the Association of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos, said it was unfair that British Airways was given unfettered access to MMIA, the country’s busiest airport, while Nigerian Airways, based in the UK, would be denied the same privileges if it was BASA compliant.
Mr Keyamo said the ministry was waiting for a response from the UK ministry. He insisted that countries must adhere to the Bilateral Air Transport Agreement (BASA) that Nigeria has with their governments, saying failure to comply with the agreement could result in retaliation by the Nigerian government.
He said, “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 minister also called on investors from around the world to take advantage of the huge investment opportunities in the aviation industry, particularly in maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities (MRO).
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, financiers, 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.”
