Stakeholders at the recent Quarter Two (Q2) Brunch Business Meeting held by Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) in Lagos with the theme: ‘Aviation Reset: Agenda for the New Dispensation (Increasing the Numbers),’ again, called for the review of multiple entry points granted to foreign airlines by the Federal Government. OLUSEGUN KOIKI writes.

 As at October 2021 Nigeria’s Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) arrangements with other countries had climbed to 95. 

Reports claimed that only about 30 of the arrangements are active, while a very few Nigerian carriers like Air Peace are currently taking part in the frequencies.

Despite the absence of reciprocity by Nigeria and its carriers, pressures are still mounted on the Federal Government especially by State Governors, legislators and some professionals in the sector to approve more foreign airlines to fly directly into various states and airports in the country, irrespective of its effect on the nation’s carriers and employment opportunities for qualified personnel.

At present, Nigeria has five international airports; the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, Aminu Kano International Airport (AKIA), Kano, Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu and Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA).

Most of the foreign airlines operate into multiple designations in Nigeria with plans to further increase their frequencies and presence in the country. 

No fewer than 11 foreign carriers, including Qatar Airways, Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines and British Airway are operating additional 70 frequencies to Nigeria weekly with operations to several cities across the country.

Also, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Africa World Airlines; Turkish Airlines and Asky Airlines, among others are among the carriers with multiple operations into Nigeria.

Industry stakeholders said that while the multiple designations granted foreign carriers may be good for the passengers as it eliminates various challenges of connecting flights, it is, however, a disservice to local airline operators who lose billions of naira annually to the multiple entry points approved for the foreign carriers.

It was also gathered that the foreign airlines don’t pay royalties to the government as the new Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASAs) arrangements they signed with the government eliminated this.

For instance, the Qatari Government had in February 2016 signed a new BASA arrangement with the Federal Government, which would enable its carrier, Qatar Airways from its base in Doha, to increase its weekly frequencies to major cities in Nigeria to five destinations. 

Qatar Airways presently operate Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu, and it operates seven weekly frequencies to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. 

At the ASRTI gathering, players in the sector called on the Federal Government to review the existing BASA arrangements with other countries, arguing that while Nigeria opens its airspace wide to foreign airlines, their counterparts come out with obnoxious policies that limit the expansion tendencies of the nation’s carriers in their own countries.

A communique issued at the end of the one-day conference, emphasized that restriction of foreign airlines into either Lagos or Abuja and one other secondary point of entrance would go a long way to curb capital flights out of Nigeria.

Participants said deliberate efforts should be made to secure government support for local airline operators particularly in BASA implementation to enable them to attain their full potential.

The participants said: “In order to protect the interest of Nigeria and her airlines, there is a need to review existing BASAs with the commercial agreements and enforce the reciprocity principle in international agreement.

“Foreign airlines’ designated to fly into Nigeria should be restricted to either Lagos or Abuja and a secondary entry point. The current system of multiple entry destinations should be discontinued to enhance the drive towards regional hub creation, while the government should ensure the foreign airlines timely home remittance to avail their inventories, lower tariffs, and increase traffic.”

But, Sindy Foster of Avaero Capital Partner, however, said that restricting the foreign airlines to one major airport in the country would have an adverse effect on the flying public.

According to her, in the United Kingdom for instance, there are so many functional airports with many foreign airlines operating them. 

For instance, Foster explained that some of the foreign airlines preferred to fly into Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, and other regional airports as well, apart from Heathrow International Airport.

She canvassed for the liberation of the sector by the Nigerian Government, maintaining that this would drive growth and would eventually reduce the cost of airfares.

She argued that it is customer demands that would determine airports airlines want to fly into, stressing that the restriction of foreign airlines would also impact negatively on domestic movement.

She said: “We have already seen the lower impact on passenger numbers for domestic airlines when international flights were restricted. Does Nigeria want to grow passenger numbers for domestic airlines? Or does or want to do what it does best and restrict the life out of every industry?

“Liberalisation has been the driving force of aviation growth all over the world. Yet Nigeria is saying it is liberalized, but it is still one of the most difficult places in the world with restrictions upon restrictions. Do you know the cost of international flights would come down if you genuinely liberalised and allowed more flights? Look at open air agreement territories and see the impact. Nigeria will restrict itself into stagnation if it is not careful.”

Also, Mr. George Uriesi, the Chief Operating Officer 9COO), Ibom Air, said Nigeria had not been tactful with the liberalisation of its airspace to foreign airlines over the years.

Uriesi described the multiple entry points granted to the foreign carriers as the “primary cannibaliser of domestic traffic” with major negative consequences against the growth of domestic airlines. 

He argued that if domestic carriers could not become stable and successful at home first, their growth level would be stunted, while competitiveness would also be eroded.

“More than this, allowing flights to be operated all over the place by international airlines, let us get away with sub-optimal infrastructure that does not support hubbing. So, it’s a lose-lose for the country. Do the domestic airlines have their blame for stunted growth? Yes. But have they been enabled to grow? No. 

“What enabled Johannesburg (South Africa) to grow into the continent’s major hub at a time was a strategic decision to restrict international to domestic and international to international transfer traffic into South Africa to Johannesburg only. The flights that were allowed into Cape Town and Durban had to be Origin and Destination (O&D) traffic only. No single ticket connections. Johannesburg, despite its far southern position grew to become the continent’s number one airport, at its peak reaching 23 million passengers, until Ethiopian Airline’s smart strategy turned Bole International Airport around and began to flog Johannesburg.”

Uriesi canvassed for purposeful policy formulation and implementation by the government, saying this would aid development in the sector.

Also, Grp. Capt John Ojikutu (retd), aviation analyst, told our correspondent that Nigeria was losing about $200 million annually to multiple entries for foreign carriers, while the country’s airlines are suffering.

Ojikutu, however, supported multiple frequencies for the foreign airlines, but negated multiple destinations for them.

Ojikutu explained that any approval above dual designations to foreign airlines exposes the country’s domestic routes and domestic markets to the international airlines.

He added: “I have said it repeatedly that no foreign airlines must be given landing rights to Lagos and Abuja, but to Lagos or Abuja and to any other airport at alternative geographical location and not more than two. However, the airline can fly many times a day to the two airports of its choice. These are great sources of forex revenue earnings for the government from the arising commercial agreements.

“Additional two destinations given to Qatar are not different from what had been given to Ethiopian Airline; both I am against. In the 1990s, when Egypt Air and Middle East Airline were lifting regular West African regional passengers to and from Lagos, it became a war between them and the Nigeria Airways and it was stopped. Who will fight the battle now for the domestic airlines when we do not have a national carrier or designated flag carriers?

“Imagine the number of passengers on the extra frequency flights by these airlines and the earnings from their landing and parking? Commercial agreements, if well-managed, can pay well for the loss in reciprocity.