Nigeria writes UK for tier one airport for Nigerian airlines

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo said that the Federal Government has written to the United Kingdom to allow Nigerian carriers particularly Air Peace operate to  Heathrow Airport.

The Minister who spoke at the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) seminar in Lagos on Friday said Nigeria would no longer allow a situation where the country’s airlines are not allowed to tier one airports overseas in line with the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) saying failure not to allow Air Peace into Heathrow may lead to Nigeria taking British Airways and others to places like Ilorin, Kano, and other obscure places.

He stated that in the absence of a national carrier, the government would support local airlines and give them whatever they need to survive and succeed, hinting, “We should have flag carriers who will make us very proud and that will service our reciprocal right and the BASA that we have but they must make sure they raise the global standards and make us proud.”

His words, “We are working and collaborating with Nigerian carriers to ensure that they are supported. 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 Lagos, our tier one 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”.

“We will look into so many agreements that we have that are not working in the interest of our airlines. We need to support them to grow but they must show capacity to reciprocate many of the agreements. Air France flies to Nigeria and no Nigerian airline is flying to Paris. Lufthansa, Delta and a host of others but no Nigerian carrier is operating to Frankfurt or the US.”

“South African Airline flies to Nigeria and no Nigerian carrier reciprocates. Nigerian carriers are constrained, which is why you have a high mortality rate of airlines in Nigeria. Over 150 Nigerian carriers have been extinct in the last 35 years, which is very disheartening”.

The Minister disclosed that the aviation regulatory body, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has had to wait for the airline operators to come for the renewal of their Air Operator Certificate (AOC) because of the tough economic situation which has affected the carriers over so many years.

The Minister admitted that there are issues in the sector but noted that the administration is working to solve them one after the other, saying they won’t be able to solve all the issues at a go but will face the most critical ones first.

Keyamo stated that the government is focusing on aircraft Maintenance Repairs Overhaul (MRO) for the local aviation industry, saying investors are already talking with the government and pleading to invest in the project which is going to be on a PPP basis.

“Very soon we are going to advertise and we are going to call people with money. Don’t say foreigners are coming to take your business. This is a big business. We need more MROs and it will service the whole of West Africa and Central Africa. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet. The Chinese are talking to us, the Europeans are talking to us. Financiers and banks are talking to us. You can’t build an MRO in a facility that does not exist because you need to taxi to it. They must build it in an airport. Anyone building an MRO now for the wide-bodies is doing something. They have to talk to us for us to give you land. We are going to do our master plan for the MRO. We calling and not begging for you to come and make money. There’s money to be made here.”

Having a functional MRO in Nigeria, the Minister said is going to save the country a lot of foreign exchange.

A former Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Capt. Rabiu Yadudu recently stated that airlines expend about $1 million on the maintenance of airframes alone not to talk about the maintenance of landing gear and engines, which have different maintenance programmes.

The Minister lambasted those who accused him of interference in the affairs of the agencies to which he had received a lot of condemnations in the past, he said since he didn’t want to interfere, he would not fail to voice his views on things that are inimical to air safety.

“Tell all those aviation experts that I don’t interfere in the affairs of the agencies but will interfere when things are not going well and I can’t be held liable for doing what is right”.

Wole Shadare