The chairman of the Africa Investment and Trade Summit and Exhibition (AITE), Tunde MacAlabi, has commended the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, for fighting relentlessly for Nigeria’s interests in aviation since his appointment a year ago.
“If most of Keyamo’s predecessors had been committed to national interests as the present aviation minister, the Nigerian aviation sector would have been as competitive as that of any of the developed nations”, MacAlabi asserted in a statement in Lagos today.
Recalling how Keyamo cancelled the controversial flight deal which his predecessor entered into with Ethiopian Airlines because it was skewed against the country, the AITE chairman, cited a recent letter by the Nigerian aviation minister to the British authorities as the latest example of Keyamo’s patriotism.
In the letter written on August 1, 2024, the minister asked the British Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Hugh, to ensure that Air Peace, which commenced operations into London last March, is provided a slot at Heathrow Airport, UK’s foremost airport, not later than November, otherwise, British Airways and Virgin Airlines may no longer fly to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Air Peace is confined to Gatwick Airport in London.
"This is unfair”, the AITE chairman declared in the statement.
“The current arrangement looks like part of the grand design against Air Peace and other Nigerian carriers like Arik and Bellview that dared fly to Europe”.
MacAlabi recalled how international carriers engaged in a “vicious trade war to frustrate Air Peace when it began the Lagos-London route with a mere N1.2 million fare for a seat whereas the foreign airlines were charging as high as N4m per seat.
“They were even desperate enough to frustrate Air Peace by charging less than N1.2m, but the indigenous carrier beat them”.
MacAlabi praised the Nigerian people and government for supporting Air Peace in its international operations.
The local airline is competitive not just in airfare but also in the quality of ground and in-flight services and safety record, noted the AITE chairman.
“The Nigerian dishes it serves passengers are top-notch”, MacAlabi added.
He continued: “If the Nigerian government and people had risen to the occasion during the time of Bellview and Arik when they commenced international operations, they perhaps would have weathered the storm”.
MacAlabi observed that the London route has been so profitable that in the 1990s when Nigeria had a diplomatic problem with the United Kingdom, British Airways offered to provide its equipment and crew to the rival Nigeria Airways just to ensure that the UK did not lose the route.
“The manner of the operationalization of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the UK has always been unfair to our country”, noted the AITE leader, recollecting that British Airways was landing in Kano as of right up to the 1980s, that is, landing in both Lagos and Kano without paying the required fees. In contrast, Nigeria Airways was allowed to land only at Heathrow.
“It’s delightful that the Ibrahim Babangida government changed the lopsided arrangement in the late 1980s despite the spirited defence of the status quo by local forces working for British Airways”.
MacAlabi also counselled the aviation minister to ensure that Air Peace resumes flights to Dubai on equal terms as Emirates operates into Lagos.
“Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has so far discharged his duties with the necessary patriotism, courage and foresight”.