Recently, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Medview Airlines, Alhaji Muneer Bankole relayed how his dream to commence flight operations between Nigeria and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was almost truncated courtesy of aero politics.
It is no longer news that Medview Airline was designated by the federal government to fly into the UAE rich city to reciprocate the Bilateral Air Services Agreement existing between the two countries.
Presently, while there are three strong carriers from the UAE enjoying the agreement, since the suspension of flights into the Arab country by Arik Air over a year ago, no Nigerian airline has been reciprocating from the Nigerian end.
The three airlines reaping from the BASA benefits from the UAE end are: Emirates, Qatar and Etihad with the three operating more than twenty one frequencies into and out of Nigeria with zero frequency coming from Nigeria.
The continuous absence of Nigerian carriers on the UAE routes places Nigeria at the disadvantage.
Agreed that the reaping of benefits by the UAE airlines is not of their making but by the sheer act of planlessness on the part of those in charge of signing BASAs on behalf of Nigeria at the ministry of aviation.
Nevertheless, because there are two sides to a business, each side involved is expected to exercise the principle of fairness devoid of any aero politics.
It was therefore unfortunate to learn from the Medview Airline CEO how he was almost denied the right to operate into Dubai on the excuse that there was no slot for the airline at the major terminal.
According to Bankole, it took the intervention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to prevail on the UAE authorities to remove the obstacles put before Medview Airline which finally paved the way for the Nigerian airline to commence flight operations there from November.
This latest declaration from the Medview Airline Chief is one of the many injustices being meted out to the Nigerian airlines in the foreign countries whose own airlines have continued to enjoy unlimited opportunities here.
It is no longer news how the federal government through its watery policies have granted open ended rights to the carriers through the multiple entry points, abuse of the fifth freedom rights to too many frequencies which have been the bane of the domestic carriers.
It is painful that despite the free rights granted the foreign airlines, reverse has continued to be the case as their home government’s display their open hatred towards the Nigerian airlines under the guise of protecting their own carriers.
While the foreign airlines smiles to their home countries with billions of Naira from Nigeria, their home governments are ever ready to frustrate any Nigerian airline coming into their domain through flimsy excuses.
It is therefore, at this junction that the Crucial Moment is joining the Medview Airline CEO to urge the federal government to urgently invoke the reciprocity clause in the BASA agreements Nigeria has with the over 78 countries around the world which are presently lopsided.
It is however sad that despite this obvious injustice and lopsided agreements and pleas from professionals and key players in the sector for government to review the agreements, government has continued to turn deaf ears to the clarion call.
Obviously, the failure of government to cut the hostile countries to their size is what is responsible for the double standards often displayed by the foreign countries in their dealings with the Nigerian carriers.
There is therefore an urgent need for government to review these uncivilized and unpatriotic agreements for the sake of the Nigerian airlines. God has placed the country at a strategic advantage and therefore let no country take airlines from the country for granted.
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