Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema has said the airline was yet to commence flying to London, United Kingdom because the authorities in the country have refused to honour the airline’s application.
This is coming despite the fact that UK Airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic enjoy 21 frequencies weekly to Nigeria.
Daily Trust reports that in the bilateral air service agreement (BASA) entered into among countries for the purpose of flight operations, there is a provision of reciprocity.
This means that if a foreign airline enjoys seven weekly frequencies to Nigeria, the country must also make available the same frequencies for a Nigerian airline to fly to that country.
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However, over the years Nigeria has not been able to reciprocate over 70 BASAs signed with countries around the world.
While Nigerian airlines had operated UK flights in the past, none of them is currently on that route leaving the market only to foreign airlines.
At the moment, an economy ticket to the UK on direct flight costs almost N2m due to the skyrocketing price of the ticket.
But Air Peace’s move to enter into the market with a view to crashing fares in what is one of the most lucrative routes had been frustrated, the chairman disclosed.
While speaking at the Aviation Roundtable forum in Lagos, Onyema stated that the airline, which currently flies to China, India, South Africa and Israel, wrote to the UK authorities to start operating to London but they wrote back to the airline to stop disturbing them.
He said contrary to the insinuation that Nigerian airlines don’t have capacity, what they lack is the right support.
He said, “Why is Air Peace not flying to London? We fly to China, India, South-Africa, we started Jeddah and Madinah. Why are we being stopped from going to London, a six-hour flight? It is a piece of cake for the kind of equipment we have got.
“They gave us a destination to go to London. We applied to go to London but they denied us. What reason? They said because the previous airlines failed and so what?
“They stopped us for the four years we have been applying. Until Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General Civil Aviation now said enough is enough. They wrote Air Peace telling us, ‘stop writing to us, when we are ready, we will tell you’ and they are doing 21 frequencies into our country. As I speak to you, they have not contacted us in the last three months. Since last year we have been doing this.”
