••As Air Peace unsettles foreign carriers on London route

FINALLY, Nigeria’s Air Peace commenced flight operations between Lagos and the London route on March 30, 2024 to the excitement of many Nigerians particularly the traveling public.

The first maiden flight witnessed by key players within and out of the sector which recorded an encouraging passenger traffic of 240 passengers landed at the Gatwick airport with pomp and pageantry.

Prior to the foray of Air Peace to London,  the two British carriers, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been monopolizing the lucrative Lagos/London route for seven years since Medview, another Nigerian carrier earlier designated on the route stopped flights into the route.

The stoppage of flights by the Nigerian carrier left Nigerians with no alternative but to continue patronizing the British carriers and other foreign airlines who have been accused of exploiting the Nigerian travelers through exorbitant fares.

It is on record that the fares on the London route hitherto last week had be described as very outrageous with an economy class ticket attracting between N1.8million and even N3 million depending on the exchange rate.

Relief however came the way of the Nigerian air travellers when the news hit the public domain that Air Peace will be commencing flight operations on the route with cheaper fares.

The announcement by Air Peace of N1. 2million as fare for economy class on the route unsettled the foreign carriers who acknowledged the fact that the coming of the Nigerian carrier with the low fares may threaten their dominance on the route.

As expected, the foreign carriers particularly has begun what is known in the circle as price war with Virgin Atlantic leading the war with the reduction of its economy flight to N980,654, making it N400,000 cheaper than Air Peace’s fare.

Obviously, it is expected that British Airways and other foreign carriers will join in the conspiracy of slashing their fares as a means of frustrating Air Peace.

In as much as price wars are a common occurrence in the airline industry as they are periods of intense competition when airlines cut prices in an attempt to steal passengers from rivals, what should baffle the public is that the same foreign airlines that deliberately  suspended their lower inventory fares for close to one year under different guises can suddenly slash the same fares.

From what has transpired since the commencement of flights by Air Peace, the foreign carriers intentionally hiked their fares just to exploit the Nigerian travelers who have been rendered powerless in the absence of alternative options.

In other words, the attitudes of the foreign carriers can be described as conspiracy to inflict financial hardship on Nigerians who are known to be regular travellers.

While welcoming Air Peace to the Lagos/London route, the airline should gear up for more conspiracy theories from the foreign carriers who out of the apprehension of losing majority of their Nigerian passengers may employ all manner of ploys including dirty campaigns, crashed fares amongst other booby traps that will frustrate the Nigerian carrier out of the route.

To avoid being caught napping, Air Peace management should ensure that it does not give room to any lapses that may be invoked by the U.K. authorities to nail the airline.

To be above board, the Nigerian carrier should avoid running contrary to the regulations of the host country particularly by ensuring that all the documents of the passengers are thoroughly checked before being allowed to board.

As for the U.K authorities, the whole world especially Nigeria, is watching how the scenario plays out this time, therefore, it is expected that the Nigerian carrier will be given all the support needed to succeed in London.

In as much as there is an existing dual designation policy between the two countries which allows at least two airlines from each side to operate into each other’s domain, Nigeria must be allowed to explore this.

While the federal government should not only back up Air Peace and other airlines that will be reciprocating the existing agreement  through its readiness to play international Aero politics, the government through the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the ministry of Aviation should be able to engage the U.K authorities in ensuring its officials do not play game with the Nigerian airline for the sake of over protectionism.

Above all, the federal government should through the ‘fly Nigeria act’ encourage its officials to patronize the airline for the purpose of promoting private investments.

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