Key players across the country’s aviation sector are making case for a domestic clearing house for Nigerian airlines ready to embrace the strategic interline and codeshare and other alliances.
Interlining or codesharing between two airlines will not only make them formidable in the face of challenges, but will further make air travel more seamless for passengers.
Domestic clearing house if established in Nigeria will be carrying out similar functions though only in Nigeria, as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) other wise known as the clearing for airlines across the globe.
Lending his voice to the call for a domestic clearing house in the country was a former director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren who made the call at the recent breakfast meeting organized by the aviation think-thank body, Aviation around Table (ART).
At the breakfast meeting titled: “Utilizing Interlining and Codeshare Agreements as Tools for Domestic Airlines Profitability and Passenger Comfort’, Demuren however added the need for the regulatory agency to act as an umbrella and protect the airlines willing to either interline or codeshare.
Demuren identified some benefits of cooperation amongst airlines to include growth of the industry and more comfort for travelers who had hitherto be at the mercy of the airlines whenever issues such as flights cancellations or delays emerge with passengers being at the receiving end.
Equally, the former NCAA DG called for key players to join hands with the regulatory body to shelve the disadvantageous Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) that has negatively impacted the progress of the domestic airlines and embrace the new African air transport initiative, the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) which he said brings better benefits to airlines in the region.
His words: “Other countries in Africa and particularly West Africa have broken these barriers. We should support what George Uriesi of IbomAir has done and that is the best way to go for airlines in Nigeria.”
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