Another aero politics imminent on UAE-Nigeria route as Emirates returns

Barring any change, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) airline, Emirates, is expected to resume flights on the Nigeria-Dubai route after one year of suspending operations on the route.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, stated this as a guest on Arise Television programme, recently and confirmed that he had received correspondence from the UAE carrier of its readiness to return to Nigeria.

The news has started eliciting reactions from the different key players in the aviation sector with many nursing the fear that a similar international aero politics playing out on the Lagos-London route may equally be witnessed on the UEA-Nigerian route.

Prior to the suspension of flights on the route by Emirates, two airlines from the UAE, Ethihad and Emirates, were flying into Nigeria while only Air Peace was reciprocating the agreements between the two countries on behalf of Nigeria.

Nigerian travellers, who were known to be major contributors to the economy of Dubai in particular through their heavy presence on the route for different reasons ranging from business, leisure, medical, among others, were denied the opportunity as Emirates did not just  pull out due to controversial reasons, but frustrated Air Peace out of the route.

However, with the announcement by Keyamo that the airline is set to resume flights, some stakeholders, while commending the development which they said was made possible through the efforts of President Bola Tinubu, quickly drew the attention of relevant authorities in Nigeria to an impending aero politics that may play out with the return of Emirates and Air Peace to the route.

In her reaction, the president of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agents (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye, noted that Emirates will struggle to gain back the passengers it had lost during its absence on the route and that in doing this, there is bound to be some drama.

She said, “The coming back of Emirates will bring about another level of competition on the Dubai route and other routes. Emirates stopping operations into Nigeria has made them to lose their clients to other airlines, especially Qatar. So, they will do all things possible to win back their clients. I am definitely happy about the development; it will bring new competition and competition drives prices down, which is beneficial to the travellers. More people travelling increases the volume of sales for travel agents.”

Director at Zenith Travels and a member of Aviation Round Table, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said the return of Emirates is a welcome development, but noted that it would have been more favourable if the Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, was announced to be the first to return to the route.

According to Ohunayo, though Emirates has the capacity as it operates twice daily to Lagos airport, for example and with many Nigerians who want to travel beyond the UAE, there is bound to be competition.

He however called on the Nigerian government and those who approved 14 frequencies to Emirates to ensure that Air Peace also enjoys the same frequencies through the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) existing between the two countries.

Ohunayo said, “If Emirates is operating 14 frequencies into Lagos, any Nigerian carrier must operate the same frequencies to the UAE. It is non-negotiable, it must be in total. The Nigeria carrier must be allowed to make the choice into any UAE airport. What happened in the past where Air Peace was allocated to Sharjah instead of Dubai International Airport must not be allowed again. If this is not stated in the BASA, this must be looked into.”

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