Flight dispute: BA, others to now pay for airport slots

Consequently, British Airways and about 25 other foreign airlines operating at the airport may now have to pay for landing and take-off slots.

Officials of the UK Department of Transport and Nigeria’s aviation ministry had met for two days over the recent flight dispute between the two countries.

The planned introduction of the rates is coming as both countries reportedly struck a deal on Tuesday to ensure that British Airways flights continue to run daily between London and Lagos until the end of the year.

The Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, had given BA and the British government until Tuesday to iron out the Nigeria’s grievances over their Bilateral Air Services Agreement.

The dispute was close to grounding all flights between Nigeria and Britain until a last minute agreement was reached, two aviation sources told Reuters.

“The issues are being resolved and negotiations with the British government are ongoing. In the meantime, BA flights will continue seven times a week to Lagos until the end of December,” the Special Assistant to the Minister, Mr. Joel Obi, told Reuters.

He said the two governments had negotiated to reopen flights from Abuja to London for the Nigerian airline in the centre of the controversy, running seven trips a week.

The BASA agreement allocates 21 equal flight frequencies between the two countries, which their airlines can use. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic use up Britain’s 21 return flights, but the Nigeria airline is the only one flying to London and is allocated 12 slots a week at Heathrow airport.

The Federal Government had two weeks ago reduced British Airways’ flight frequencies into MMIA from seven per week to three.

The decision to reduce the flight frequencies, according to government sources, was in retaliation for the alleged denial of take-off and landing slots to a Nigerian carrier at the London Heathrow Airport.

The development forced officials of the UK Department of Transport to fly into Abuja on Sunday to discuss the Bilateral Air Service Agreement between both countries with their Nigerian counterparts. 

The meeting, which began on Monday, ended on Tuesday with several knotty issues yet to be sorted out, sources at the meeting told one of our correspondents.

Although the UK government had promised to assist the Nigerian carrier recover its landing and take-off slots at Heathrow, the officials, however, insisted that the slots had to be paid for.   

The development, which did not go down well with the Nigerian officials, it was learnt, made the government to consider making foreign carriers operating in the country to also pay for landing and take off slots at the MMIA.

The meeting was attended by the minister and other top officials of the ministry and aviation agencies.

A statement issued by Obi, however, confirmed the latest development.

The statement read in part, “The Nigerian government and the British authorities held high-level negotiations yesterday (Monday) and this morning. These discussions are still ongoing. The outcomes thus far are as follows:

“With respect to slot at Heathrow airport, seven slots per week from Abuja have been secured for Arik Air at prevailing commercial rates. As you are aware, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is renovating and upgrading its airports. These efforts will require a review of current slot allocations and additional funding. Towards this end, FAAN is considering applying commercial slot rates for slots into Murtala Mohammed International Airport in the spirit of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement.”

The statement added, “With respect to the high fares charged by British Airways and the associated regional imbalance, the airline made an offer of a 20 per cent reduction in the lowest Business Class fare between Nigeria and the UK.

“The Nigerian side considered this as insufficient. The Nigerian government is still very concerned about the regional price disparity. We still strongly believe that this regional imbalance should be dismantled. In other words, BA should offer the same or similar fares from Nigeria to the UK as is the case in any other equidistant destination within West Africa.”