Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, recently wrote a diplomatic letter to the United Kingdom aviation handlers requesting landing slots for Air Peace, at the UK’s Choice airport in Heathrow. These requests sparked discussions in the industry, OLASUNKANMI AKINLOTAN x-rays the matter
The media has been filled with reports about the protest letter written by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to his British counterpart. The letter was written to lodge a formal complaint about the UK airport authority’s refusal to allow the Nigerian Air Peace to land at Heathrow Airport.In a letter dated August 1, 2024, and addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace was not allocated a space at London Heathrow, Nigeria would be forced to “reciprocate” by denying British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots at the Lagos and Abuja airports.Although Heathrow is the UK’s primary airport, Air Peace currently operates from Gatwick Airport, a secondary airport.The UK’s Heathrow Airport could be compared to Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, and Gatwick Airport, UK, may be likened to the Enugu International Airport.Efforts by Air Peace to get a slot at Heathrow, which is closer to the heart of London, have been unsuccessful…Meanwhile, Nigeria and the United Kingdom are both parties to a bilateral aviation safety agreement, an agreement that provides for Civil Aviation Certifications to be shared between the two countriesThis agreement is called the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement.A BASA sets out obligations and methods for cooperation between the authorities to avoid unnecessary duplication of evaluation, and to facilitate the certification of aeronautical products by the civil aviation authorities.A BASA, therefore, supports trade in aircraft and related products, while ensuring the highest levels of aviation safety.This agreement also allows airport managers to provide equal landing privileges to aircraft from member countries in their domain.Meanwhile, some industry stakeholders were of the view that the Nigeria-UK BASA agreement promoted designated city destinations rather than specific airports.The stakeholder said Heathrow cannot be explicitly mentioned in the agreement as it falls outside the purview of the Department of Transport and given the UK government’s lack of involvement in airport slot allocation.They advised Air Peace to address the issue independently and not escalate it.
