Why Govt Must Protect Air Peace

In the aviation sector of the economy, Nigeria and Britain voluntarily signed an agreement which is known as Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA). This agreement entails that Nigerian- owned airlines should be permitted to land in British primary airports like Heathrow while also British- owned airlines should be permitted access to Nigerian primary airports like Abuja and Lagos international airports.

Paradoxically, the British government has been observing this voluntary agreement in the breach whereas Nigeria has complied fully with the agreement. The Nigerian government allows British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and other airlines to be doing business in both Abuja and Lagos international airports.

Air Peace airline, owned by a Nigerian compatriot, Allen Onyema, sought international flight to the United Kingdom for over seven good years without success. A lot of bureaucratic bottlenecks and aero politics were strewn on his path to grant his airline access to the lucrative Lagos- London route. He faced a lot of bitter politics and recriminations from both Nigeria and Britain to make his dream come true.

Against the foregoing background, when his dream finally became real under the present government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on March 30,2024, most Nigerians of good spirits were elated about the event. The British government most perfunctorily granted Air Peace access to the Gatwick airport in southern London against his will for the Heathrow airport in central London. Nonetheless, it was not a mean feat by Air Peace.

Curiously, immediately Air Peace entered into the lucrative Lagos- London route, foreign airlines which have been milking Nigerians and exploiting them, devised a devious scheme to frustrate Air Peace airline out of business. Their  latest strategy is to crash their fares below what Air Peace is charging. Before the entrance of Air Peace airline into that busiest international route, these exploitative foreign airlines were charging as high as over five million naira for the economy class for a journey of six hours. Their business class was as high as 16 million naira. Air Peace airline crashed the economy class to as low as one million four hundred thousand (1.4 million) naira.

These exploitative foreign airlines are reportedly reducing their economy class to six hundred thousand naira from their hitherto four million naira. Shouldn’t this be an eye opener to the Nigerian government that without the intervention of Air Peace airline, these monopolistic foreign airlines would have continued to exploit Nigeria travelers? When was the last time these foreign airlines reduced their fares prior to Air Peace airline intervention? Doesn’t their latest action of fares reduction clearly show that their intention is to drive Air Peace airline out of that route just the same way they supposedly chased Arik, Bellview and other Nigerian-owned airlines out of that route?

If the Nigerian struggling economy must grow, the Nigerian government must protect and support local entrepreneurs against foreign monopoly and strangulation. Nigeria government must protect and save Air Peace airline from strangulation through tax rebate and even subsidy payment to stop the monopoly of the foreign airlines in London-Lagos route. Nigerians stranded in London can never be brought back to the country free of charge by these exploitative foreign airlines but Air Peace airline can do that in the event of an emergency. The airline had done that in the past when Nigerians stranded in South Africa xenophobic attacks, those in the Russia/Ukraine war, Sudan among others were airlifted back to the country free of charge by Air Peace airline.

Ifeanyi Maduako, Owerri