NIGERIAN AIRLINES PLAN US ROUTES FLIGHTS

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Nigerian airlines, such as Air Peace, are preparing to begin service to the US in the near future.

This trend coincides with increased authorization and effort on the part of the federal government to assist regional operators in broadening their global reach.

Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation, recently pledged to further drive down the cost of foreign travel.

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He also outlined the steps taken to guarantee that, in the not-too-distant future, local operators will have complete control over international routes.

He said that his ministry is on track to remove these obstacles and create an atmosphere that will support the growth of both domestic and foreign airlines through the President Bola Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

A representative of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, anonymously confirmed that Air Peace has been recently granted the right to fly to the US, adding that other airlines are also in the consideration process.

“The airline that the government gave the right to fly to the US routes is Airpeace. There are other airlines but Airpeace has just been recently offered that,” the representative said.

An aviation analyst and member of the aviation round table, Olumide Ohunayo, over a phone interview, expressed scepticism about the readiness of Nigerian airlines to fly US routes.

“Sincerely, we are not ready. I have not seen any of the airlines in Nigeria being capable of starting the US routes,” he said.

“They have granted some airlines permission to fly to the US. But I don’t see any of the airlines with the capacity to sustain flights to the US. Remember what they did to Virgin Atlantic when they had passengers in Virgin Nigeria and they said they will not allow Virgin Atlantic to use the Virgin Nigerian opportunity to enter into America using Virgin Nigeria. That is going to happen if we have to go and lease aircraft from any of the countries that are having bilateral issues who they think have taken enough capacity from them.”

He also cited historical challenges and potential bilateral issues, warning, “If our airlines must go, our aircraft must be owned by us. I don’t think we are ready.”

In contrast, the Chief Operating Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Osita Okonkwo, asserted that his airline is prepared, pointing out that securing slots and permits from US authorities is the main hurdle.

“We are ready, the fleet is not the issue. The issue is the counterparty’s process of getting slots.

“You can have the fleet and they can delay giving you slots. We are designated to go to the US routes but we have to get slots first. So we are doing the process. Slot and permit are major issues.

“It is a process to go through the Federal Aviation Administration of America. We have to get all those, and then we move to the next stage of going to the airport to get slots. Fleet is not the problem because many people will want to give you aircraft to do it.

Meanwhile, Chief Operating Officer of Ibom Air, George Uriesi, stated that his airline has no plans to operate outside Africa. “Africa is where we are interested in. Those whose plan is to go outside Africa, that is for them and not for us,” he said.

Also, the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Obiora Okonkwo, indicated ongoing efforts to meet the requirements.

“We are working on it from our own side. As soon as the process that is required is over, we will be ready,” he said, underscoring a commitment to achieving compliance.

However, the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to Keyamo, Tunde Moshood, said that the government is willing to allocate more international routes to local operators.

“There are several BASA routes to be fixed for our local operators the moment they show capacity and consistency.

“It’s for the local operators to show readiness and capacity, fixing them for any of the BASA routes is what the Minister has promised.”