Ahead of Tuesday’s expiration of the deadline given to the British Airways to slash its Lagos-London flights from seven to three times weekly, Nigerian aviation authorities have continued to talk tough, insisting the British government was wrong in disrespecting the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between the two countries.
“The British authorities are under obligation as far as BASA is concerned to ensure that whatever ‘independent’ and ‘commercial’ decisions are taken by its corporate citizens do not infringe on bilateral agreements.’ the local media Monday quoted Aviation Minister Stella Oduah as saying.
‘Otherwise, business concerns in the UK and indeed other countries around the world would, as has happened with ACL (UK’s Airport Coordination Limited), resort to unfair practices to edge out competition with its indigenous companies,” she said. The face-off between Nigerian and British governments was triggered by the refusal of the British authorities to allow Nigeria’s privately-owned Arik Airline to land at Heathrow Airport in London.
The minister said her ministry would not stand by and watch while Nigerian flag carriers were being unfairly treated, when BASA clearly states otherwise. She said if this was allowed to happen, undesirable precedent would have been set whereby the rights and privileges of Nigerian airlines would blatantly be violated by apparently independent business concerns in other countries other than the UK.
“Those who argue that the fate of Arik Air with regard to the loss of its slots into London Heathrow was a consequence of purely independent, commercial decisions by ACL which is in charge of slot allocation into Heathrow, are missing the point, if not being entirely mischievous. “We regret to note that the letter and spirit of BASA has not been respected as far as the treatment of Arik Air is concerned. But it is Arik Air today and it could as well be another Nigerian flag carrier tomorrow.
‘Our position is that whether it is Arik Air or any other Nigerian airline, the reciprocal cornerstone of BASA must be maintained and the Nigerian government is not about to shirk its responsibility to protect its corporate citizens whose rights under BASA are surreptitiously being violated under different guises,” Oduah said. Talks between officials of both countries are ongoing, with the hope that the spat would be resolved amicably.