Kola Olayinka is British Airways' Country Commercial Manager (Nigeria). His airline has come under Nigerian government's hammer over a faceoff it has with the British Government on issues relating to Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). Olayinka, in this interview with WOLE SHADARE, speaks on the airline's contingency plans for its customers, misrepresentations of the difference between slots and BASA, and how the two nations are resolving the issue. Excerpts:These are, indeed, trying times. Nigerians and the international travellers were hit with the cut of BA flights to Lagos from seven to three. What does this portend for a mega carrier like yours'We strongly believe that there would be solution by the two governments.The UK and Nigeria have a long-standing relationship, culture and heritage; so, we know things may be quite strained now but this is a family issue that I believe will be resolved with time.The two Governments are currently talking and we can only hope that sooner rather than later, wewill hear that this has been resolved. Our focus is on our numerous customers at this time to ensure that their travel plans are not affectedby this total misunderstanding. We have put contingency plans in place throughout the public holidays in Nigeria to ensure that we are able to help our Customers.We do not want our customers to be caught in the middle of all these. When they made their travel plans, they did not know anything like this was going to happen. My team and I in Nigeria are poised to ensure that we are positioned to be able to help and support them through their flights in the event that we are unable to operate. I must add though that at the moment, BA's position is that all our flights are scheduled to operate as normal and we are not expecting any disruptions so far.Government's action has been condemned by many, how justifiable is it'I know that the Government will not want to disrupt the travel plans of Nigerians deliberately. I trust current engagements by the two Governments will yield desired results.Arik, last week, raised the alarm over alleged denial of slots for its operations to London Heathrow Airport, who is responsible for slotallocation' Is it an airline, airport operator or the government'Slot allocation is handled in London by the Airline Coordination Limited (ACL) on behalf of the British Government. Slots may be bought directly from ACL or indirectly from their agents or those who already own slots.Naturally, the secondary sellers sell at a higher rate. British Airways, like any other Airlines, also buys and pays for its own slots in the UK. There should not be an alarm by any airline, there are different operational costs associated with operating to any country in the World.As a responsible airline, you need to pay your cost. British Airways pays its own and I think this is a very transparent issue; it is all on the Internet.Already, both the UK and Nigerian Governments have begun talks, any hope of amicable resolution of the matter'When two family members disagree on any issue, they definitely will agree later. This is a family issue and I strongly believe that the two countries and governments will find a solution to this sooner rather than later.In the event that this matter is not resolved before Tuesday ultimatum given to the British government to balance the BASA agreement, how would BA cope with huge passengers that have already been booked on daily flights'There is no doubt that this might lead to some disruptions of our customers earlier planned and booked flights. This is coming so sudden and is not planned, we have positioned our staff to be able to help all our passengers as much as we possibly can on their flights.As you would expect, the ability of our passengers to make their journeys would be our number one priority and we will support them in all ways possible to minimise what may turn out to be an unfortunate disruption. However, as I said earlier, we expect that this will be resolved one way or the other.In your opinion, is this latest development not capable of straining relations between Abuja and London'My answers have been given on this already. Blood is thicker than water. We have come a long way and I truly see this as an issue that will be resolved sooner rather than later by the two family nations. I need to add this. I trust that in Nigeria, we still have good, professional investigative journalists, who can find out information for themselves. What has really been unsettling so far is the amount of misinformation that has been placed in the public domain; it is really disheartening.I just would like to encourage our Investigative journalists to really go out and dig out the truth by themselves. If we stand for the truth, the truth will set us free.I know journalism is about truth, hence my plea. The World has become quite a global village, let us go out there and dig out the truth.
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