Legal luminary and human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has called for the suspension of flight operations into Nigeria by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, until such a time when Nigeria’s Air Peace is allowed to also fly on the Lagos-London route, in accordance with the provisions of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement(BASA) signed by Nigeria and United Kingdom.
Falana made the comments at the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) Conference in Abuja.
Falana stated that BASA allows for reciprocity of flight operations on the route by designated airlines of both countries, in line with the agreement signed by both countries and that it was out of place and unfair for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to be allowed to continue flying into Nigeria without any Nigerian airline flying to London in return.
He observed that Air Peace has proven it has the capacity to operate on international routes, adding that the airline currently flies to China, Israel, India, South Africa, among others, using modern aircraft comparable to those of its foreign competitors.
Falana, therefore, submitted that “If Air Peace is not allowed to fly to London, then British Airways and Virgin Atlantic should be stopped from flying to Nigeria.”
Air Peace has a fleet of modern long-haul and regional aircraft that can match those of other foreign airlines operating into Nigeria.
Lagos-London route has been described by stakeholders in the industry as low hanging fruit for Nigerian carriers, but over the years, domestic airlines have been denied flying the route, which is one of the favourite destinations for Nigerians. Because London-Lagos route is a popular destination, cost of flight tickets is exorbitant due to high demand.
However, it is expected that the cost of airfare would be reduced whenever Air Peace begins the route. Currently British Airways and Virgin Nigeria Airways operate direct flights from Nigeria to UK.
