Turkish, Emirates, Nigeria extend lopsided BASA pacts

• FAAN set to decongest Lagos traffic

Nigeria may have given Turkish Airlines and Emirates additional frequency (Flight rights) to operate to the Port-Harcourt Airport and the newly-built Abuja International Airport terminal.

This has, however, expanded their scope of operations in Nigeria, which is lopsided and not in tandem with the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) Nigeria has with these countries.

The newly commissioned Abuja Airport has annual capacity of 15 million passengers, while Port Harcourt has annual capacity of five million passengers.

While Turkish operates 14 frequencies into Lagos and Abuja, no Nigerian carrier has the capacity and capability to reciprocate the air pact between the two countries. Their planned operations to Port-Harcourt will further raise it to between 18 and 21 frequencies.

On the other hand, Emirates, which recently restored its Abuja flights after the airline stopped operations two years ago over recession, could be up to 21 frequencies also if they make good their intention to operate to Port-Harcourt.

Spokeswoman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, told Woleshadarenews that in a bid to reduce the congestion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, FAAN is encouraging air travellers and airlines to divert some of their traffic to airports outside Lagos, especially the newly-constructed terminals.

The airport manager also said that the diversion of traffic from Lagos would help in putting the newly-commissioned terminals in Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Omagwa and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja to maximum use.

She stated that to this end, Turkish Airlines and Emirates had indicated their readiness to commence scheduled flight operations from Port-Harcourt and Abuja respectively from June, stressing that Air Peace would also begin direct flight to Dubai from PHIA as from April this year.

Yakubu explained that it was necessary to divert traffic from Lagos to other airports within the country, but noted that Lagos would remain the hub of airports in Nigeria.

She explained that rather than the entire airlines focusing their attention on Lagos Airport, they could also make use of the state-of-the-art facilities in other aerodromes across the country, stressing that FAAN was determined to improve flying experience of air travellers within Nigeria.

According to her, Turkish Airlines would commence direct flight from its base to PHIA from June 25, while Emirates would increase its four weekly flights to daily to Dubai Airport from NAIA from June 1.

Already, she hinted that Cronos Air operates three weekly frequencies – Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays from PHIA, while Lufthansa Airlines flies four times weekly – Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from the same airport.

Also, Air France operates five weekly flights – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays, stressing that the Turkish flights would be operated four times weekly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, starting from June 25, 2019 from the same airport.

Apart from the foreign airlines, she emphasised that Air Peace would also commence direct flight operations to Accra from Abuja, while scheduled flights between Port Harcourt and Dubai operations of the airline would commence in April this year.

Besides, Yakubu explained that Air Cote d’Ivoire would commence direct flight from Abuja to its base in Abidjan soon.

She said: “Turkish Air and Emirates would soon commence direct flight to their bases from the new Port Harcourt International Airport terminal. We want to appeal to members of the public that they don’t have to come from Port Harcourt or any part of the Eastern state to fly out of the country.

“They can easily go to Port Harcourt to fly. Also, as you know, Abuja Airport’s new terminal too has opened and Emirates would be starting from the terminal from June. We are expecting all the international airlines to start operating also from Abuja Airport.

“We want to encourage our passengers that they don’t all have to come to Lagos even though we know Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of the country and the airport is the hub, but passengers can travel from Abuja and Port Harcourt airports to connect to their destinations so that we can decongest Lagos airport. Turkish will soon commence a direct flight from Port Harcourt to Turkey, while Emirates will also do so to Dubai.”

Wole Shadare