The Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. George Uriesi, says the Federal Government is not comfortable with the way a Nigerian airline was edged out of the Abuja-London operations. He says the British Airways has to explain its role in this. He spoke during a local television interviewCan you explain the Bilateral Air Services Agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom' When you have a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between two countries, it is about accessing the market; it is the exchange to that market. The reality of the situation is that the government provides the framework for the access to that market.The United Kingdom, for instance, has 21 frequencies, which gives room for British carriers to access our market 21 times a week. And Nigerian carriers can access the British market 21 times a week. It is all about exchange to access the market.The agreement specifies how that access will work out. For the British carriers, they are utilising the entire 21 slots as they have two carriers, BA and Virgin Atlantic Airways, but on the Nigerian side, only Arik Air is exercising that right.Why is the Federal Government fighting for a Nigerian airline when the issue seems to bear on competition' It is not really about Arik Air; it is about Nigerian designated carriers, which happens to be Arik Air, which has seven frequencies from Lagos to Heathrow. But a couple of weeks ago, with its five slots a week from Abuja into Heathrow, its slot got taken rather suddenly, they were left high and dry.To a large extent, it is one thing to have 21 frequencies, but if you do not have slots at the airport, it is generally about trying to defend a Nigerian carrier. I only want to de-emphasise the Arik part of it. It is about defending a Nigerian designated carrier; it is meant to protect the rights of indigenous carriers.In the agreement, it is a convoluted arrangement that we have two British carriers at the detriment of one Nigerian carrier. It is one thing to have a frequency into the airport without a slot, which makes it difficult. It is good for government to protect the rights of indigenous carriers.What can you say about the issue of slots at Londons Heathrow Airport' Slot into Heathrow is probably the most valuable commodity in the air transport industry. A lot of things are associated with access into Heathrow. Many countries engage the British authorities to get slots into Heathrow. Arik Air quietly went to negotiate five slots a week into Heathrow from Abuja, paying about 600,000 to have the opportunity to lease the slots, and the airline was paying about 52,000 per month for the operations. But all of a sudden, the British authorities informed Arik Air that by the end of October, it would not be able to lease slots to the airline. Coincidentally, it turns out that the British Airways bought those slots, and even more. It began to use six slots about the time Arik Air was elbowed out. There is a trade of slots going on in Heathrow. It is an essential commodity in the industry.One thing is to be able to access the leasing of slots; you can even buy them outright, then they become yours; the other thing is to show a competitive arrangement to elbow someone out of the market, but I think what is important for us to stress is that a lot of people are watching these other carriers and their owner nations. If a Nigerian registered carrier could be elbowed out of that market, it means that other Nigerian carriers could be edged out of any other route by the authorities other than the British market. The access to the Nigerian market is important to the BA. So, in elbowing out Arik Air out of Abuja-London, BA will have to face the consequences.
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