[ICYMI] Nigeria, UK battle over Air Peace landing right in Heathrow

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, recently wrote a diplomatic letter to the United Kingdom aviation handlers requesting landing slots for Air Peace, at the UK’s Choice airport in Heathrow. These requests sparked discussions in the industry, OLASUNKANMI AKINLOTAN x-rays the matter

The media has been filled with reports about the protest letter written by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to his British counterpart. The letter was written to lodge a formal complaint about the UK airport authority’s refusal to allow the Nigerian Air Peace to land at Heathrow Airport.

In a letter dated August 1, 2024, and addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace was not allocated a space at London Heathrow, Nigeria would be forced to “reciprocate” by denying British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots at the Lagos and Abuja airports.

Although Heathrow is the UK’s primary airport, Air Peace currently operates from Gatwick Airport, a secondary airport.

The UK’s Heathrow Airport could be compared to Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, and Gatwick Airport, UK, may be likened to the Enugu International Airport.

Efforts by Air Peace to get a slot at Heathrow, which is closer to the heart of London, have been unsuccessful, PUNCH has learnt.

Meanwhile, Nigeria and the United Kingdom are both parties to a bilateral aviation safety agreement, an agreement that provides for Civil Aviation Certifications to be shared between the two countries.

This agreement is called the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement.

A BASA sets out obligations and methods for cooperation between the authorities to avoid unnecessary duplication of evaluation, and to facilitate the certification of aeronautical products by the civil aviation authorities.

A BASA, therefore, supports trade in aircraft and related products, while ensuring the highest levels of aviation safety.

This agreement also allows airport managers to provide equal landing privileges to aircraft from member countries in their domain.

Meanwhile, some industry stakeholders were of the view that the Nigeria-UK BASA agreement promoted designated city destinations rather than specific airports.

The stakeholder said Heathrow cannot be explicitly mentioned in the agreement as it falls outside the purview of the Department of Transport and given the UK government’s lack of involvement in airport slot allocation.

They advised Air Peace to address the issue independently and not escalate it.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic dispute between the two countries took another dimension when Airport Coordination Limited, the independent authority responsible for slot allocation in the UK, disclosed that Air Peace missed two critical deadlines while requesting landing slots.

The company claimed that Air Peace failed to submit its slot requests on time for the Northern Summer 2024 and Northern Winter 2024 scheduling seasons.

The missed deadlines, as disclosed by the slot allocator, have added a new layer of complexity to the situation, raising genuine concerns over the airline’s ability to gain a foothold at one of the world’s busiest airports.

A top officer in the airline, who preferred not to be mentioned considering the current diplomatic nature of the matter, told our correspondent that the airline was not happy with the refusal by the UK authority to allow Air Peace aircraft to land at Heathrow airport.

He noted that the airline would not want to dabble into the matter, adding, “It is important to note that we have done due diligence in ensuring that we get a slot, but they were claiming the crowd was too much for them. Only for us to now start hearing that they claimed that we did not apply for two seasons. The same you that initially claimed no slots were owing to the crowd?

“Just like I said earlier, we have done due diligence and we will continue to do what is right. We pray that God backs the minister to help us get the desired slots from them.”

However, the Nigerian government has continued to allow UK flag bearers to land in Nigeria’s primary airports even while aviation authorities in the UK remained adamant on the matter.

In reaction to the development, Keyamo, through his letter, expressed displeasure over the development.

The diplomatic correspondence, which was leaked to the media, reads partly saying, “The consistent denial of slot” by the UK slot office to Air Peace on the Nigeria-London route to fly into Heathrow, its first choice, since it began operations in the UK in March 2024.

“The airline had made consistent efforts in the past to fly into Heathrow Airport from Lagos but was denied, and only approved to fly into Gatwick Airport from Lagos.

“Following the approval granted the airline by the Nigerian government to fly the Abuja-London route, the airline approached the slot office for slot allocation at the London Heathrow Airport, for flight operations planned to commence in November 2024, during the IATA Winter Season. It is highly disheartening that up till this moment, the airline has not received any favourable response from the slot office.”

He reminded the UK that both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were operating into Nigeria’s primary airports in Lagos and Abuja without encumbrances placed in their ways.

British Airways has been flying into Lagos since 1936.

“Therefore, it is necessary for Nigerian designated carriers to enjoy similar reciprocity that British carriers are enjoying. It is highly unfair on the side of the British authorities and a discredit to the Nigerian authorities and the Nigerian nation as a whole, for slot allocation to Nigerian carriers to be an issue at all times. We feel betrayed by the British authorities for not reciprocating the good gesture of the Nigerian State and its people,” Keyamo wrote.

The minister told the UK airport authority not to allow the slot allocation issue to be an alibi to deny the existence of a bilateral Air Services Agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, whose hallmark was based on the principle of reciprocity.

Following the minister’s threat, a junior staff member of Air Peace, who did not want to be mentioned because he was not in a capacity to speak for the company told our correspondent, “Obviously, the management is concerned by this development between the UK and Nigerian governments, but we are only taking solace in the possibility that the matter may be resolved before the deadline given.”

Also, when contacted, British Airways’ Regional Country Manager for Nigeria and Ghana, Adetutu Otuyalu, who was initially responding to chats from our correspondent, suddenly went mute after the question was posed to her.

Reactions

The President of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, Dr Kingsley Nwokoma, backed Keyamo, saying if UK airlines could enjoy Nigeria’s best airports, such privilege should also be reciprocated.

He also called for more diplomacy in resolving the matter.

His words, “If they are enjoying our best airport, since we do not have a national carrier, our current national flag carrier should be allowed to fly to their own best airports too.

“This is not rocket science. Both Nigeria and the UK are parties to BASA. So, why shouldn’t our flag carrier be allowed to land at their best airport?

“This once happened between Air Peace and the UAE and the Nigerian government sat with them and things were resolved so, I want to advise that the same tactics be employed to resolve this matter.”

Also, a commercial pilot with over 30 years of experience, Captain John Okakpu, lauded the minister’s decision to shut the landing space against both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic pending the provision of landing rights to Air Peace.

He recalled that the former military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, once shut airlines from the UK when they once disallowed the defunct Nigeria Airways from landing in the UK’s A’ class airport.

“If they refused to allow Air Peace to land in Heathrow, the minister should also banish the airlines to maybe Enugu or even Ibadan.

“Abacha stopped them from coming to our country at a time. They should also feel what we are feeling. Why should they have 21 frequencies to Nigeria and the less than seven we have, they won’t still allow us to complete it even as Nigeria’s flag carrier?  At least Arik is not as sophisticated as Air Peace and they go to Heathrow. What is the meaning of all these?

“Can you imagine what Nigerians go through when their cargoes get to Gatwick? They always have to transport it to Heathrow after paying so much for airlifting from their primary destination, which cannot continue. When passengers are going to the U.S. from Nigeria, they will be taken to Gatwick and then transported back to Heathrow before getting their connecting flight to the U.S. So why should Nigerians go through this unnecessary pain and extra spending?” he quizzed.

Ranking

Although Heathrow is now ranked 12th in the global ranking, slipping from its position at 8th in 2023, a survey by aviation analyst Cirium, which calculated the number of airports each hub served between January and June 2024, showed.

It comes despite the west London airport handling more passengers than any of its European competitors and offering over 4.5 million seats this month, according to OAG Aviation.

It was ranked the world’s fifth busiest airport last year.

Its ranking as best-connected has improved considerably in recent years, as pre-pandemic records revealed the west London hub stood in 18th position, according to the Independent.

In the first half of 2024, it served 221 locations, while London Gatwick Airport served 218 and has been positioned 14th.

It trails Heathrow by two spots despite serving half of the passengers Heathrow does.

In the list whittled down from airports worldwide, Istanbul emerged on top with some 309 destinations on offer. Most are on Turkish Airlines, the carrier with the most extensive route network in the world.

It is followed by Istanbul Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol, with 296, 282 and 270 locations on their departure screens, respectively.

The only other European airport in the top 10 and  10th position is Rome Fiumicino, with 234 locations.

Meanwhile, Chicago O’Hare is the top non-European airport listed, serving 270 airports next to Dubai International, which serves 269 airports.

Dallas-Fort Worth, Shanghai Pudong and Atlanta occupy seventh, eighth and ninth place in the table, respectively.