Our product is getting better and cheaper for Nigerians —British Airways

Mr Kola Olayinka is the British Airways Country Manager for Nigeria. In this interview with SHOLA ADEKOLA, he speaks on activities of the airline, new products it is introducing tor Nigerians in September, the return of a more refined B747 on Lagos route and cheap fares, among other issues.

 

OUR experience in the recent past:

Challenges first started with the 2015 election, how long it took. We went through the issue of FOREX and remitting money became difficult. We seem to be turning the corners. We are not fully there yet. I am sure you know all the figures. I don’t want to brandish the figures again. It was scary because you start talking of $600 million. Things are getting better and we realise we need to bring back the B747 on Lagos route. We have always flown B747. The one we flew was an older B747. The seat configuration was 14 in First Class, 70 in Business Class and 48 in Club World and about 185 in Economy. The B747 that we are starting now; we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Things are getting better, Nigerians are still traveling, businesses are picking up. Of course, people will tell you that the challenges are still there. They are managing it; they are applying strategies. We can see some strength in the economy based on what the government is doing and we thought that it would only be fair for our customers who have endured hard times with us. We will start bringing back good fares, fantastic products. This B747 is going to be more refined with IFE improved on it. I think we have 120 channels of different movies that you can watch, meals are better, seats are better and that is where the £400 million expenditure on Club World as quoted in the press is going. That £400 million is not just for Nigerian route but on all our aircraft that we have in Club World. That is why we are bringing this on and we are very confident that the customers can only be the better for it. Today, for example, we are breaking a new fare. We are having fares in the economy for about $440 to London and we are having Business class for $2800 to London. Not only is the product getting better effective September 7, it is also progressively getting cheaper. It is cheaper and better. It is a very difficult combination. Our customers have stayed with us through these difficult times. I can imagine how expensive the fares have been not because we increased the fare but if the dollar is at N520 or N500 and the fare was N160, 000 it is now about N500, 000. So, things are getting better. We are bringing a new product; so we are launching a promotion and I don’t think there is any business that can offer. We are in the middle of summer and we just hope that our customers will take advantage from September. Schools are not resuming until mid-September. People still have opportunity of traffic just like a couple or as a business or individual and that is why we thought we should speak to our very close friends and just let you know what we are doing. You know that our message is always simple, straight forward and about the customers.

 

Looking at your operations in Nigeria in the last 81 years, what are the challenges so far?

Thanks very much. Looking back is always a privilege because if you look back on the route, I started many years back and you can imagine how many bosses I have gone through all the years. People have really passed through this place. They built the business, this company. One of our firms CEO’s came into Nigeria recently. He has retired. He is Keith Williams. The top things he said are that service is in our DNA. Service is part of us. It is what we do. That is what keeps BA going. If you lose service, you lose everything. I am not saying that we are perfect all the time, but I can tell you that when something goes wrong that is when you see BA rising up to the challenge. It has been a really good journey all these years. If you take a look at our operations, it has always been about the customers. The aviation industry in Nigeria has changed. There is a lot more competition than 20 years ago. Many airlines were not here 20 years ago. The Americans were not here 20 years ago, the Middle Eastern carriers were not here 20 years ago and they are here now in full force. Even the European carriers; some were not here 20 years ago. What was the market that was dependent on new carriers? Almost all airlines from every continent are here in Nigeria. That means the pressure is on making sure you deliver as a company. Competition is good. When there is competition, the customers benefit. Some of my colleagues will be happy because the more the customer, the better for it. It is not about protecting any one, it is about letting the best airline that offers the best fares and best product win at the end of the day. I must also add that Nigerian travellers are extremely intelligent. If you sell something to them that they don’t like, they won’t come back. The era of taking the customers for granted is over. We are at an era where customers know more about aircraft than some of us. We adore our customers. We realise that without our customers, there is absolutely no business. It might take some time but your business will be eroded if you are not doing enough for your customers and that is one of the strengths I think BA has.

 

Why is BA bringing back a fuel guzzlling aircraft like the B747, at a time other airlines are using fuel efficient airplanes?

Generally, across the globe, airlines are getting newer aircrafts. We have the A380. We have 12 of them. They are in service. You can see a progression in aircraft acquisition all over the world. We may not be as aggressive as some other airlines, but we equally have these newer versions and you can see new things happening. B747 was not manufactured yesterday but the services would all be brand new including the interior. The seats will all be brand new, the IFE will all be redone and it is brand new. Yes, there is some cost to it, but we also believe that if you look at our fares out of here, our customers pay quite a bit and we want to make sure they get value for their money, a way to compensate them for what they pay because all these years, like I said they deserve some benefits from the money they are spending. If for a period of time you offer them some flexible fares, I think it makes sense and then you can keep them. We don’t want a one-customer business, we want customers that keep coming back because when we get it right for them, we give the right fares and product.

 

Will the economy passengers benefit from the aircraft and other products you are bringing?

Yes. There is what we call seat pitch. For example, very tall people, it means your knee cap will not be touching your seat in front. When I travel like that for six hours I get cramps or the way to avoid cramp is to be walking around. The seats have more space. The food is much better. There is a seat back video for every seat whether you are in economy or not. Now, you can plug your laptop. It is generally an improvement in the service whether you are flying in the economy or business class, you enjoy our service. Let’s face it; economy passengers are very important with 145 seats. If it is empty, it’s going to be at a loss. Every class is important. I discover that it is easier to show people than to be describing.  Why competition is good is that the customer benefits. If you come out with a nice fare, somebody else will copy it.

 

From the information I gathered, the aircraft you are introducing has been operating to Nigeria

It has operated once or twice because when aircraft goes for maintenance they introduced it. I have been in the aircraft myself, but the B747-400 itself is not new but the refitting inside is new. We don’t want to misrepresent facts.

 

How far has BA gone with its fleet renewal programme?

The £5 billion fleet renewal has been completed. We have the full A380 and I had the pleasure of flying it. That one is like a house in the sky. We are introducing the B747 on the route to compensate our customers and to get most of our customers to remain with us. If things had been rough in the last 15-20 months with people paying a lot based on what I described earlier, this is the time to give them good products. To be honest with you, we had to fight for this aeroplane. We had to pull it from other routes. There is no airline that is profitable that will tell you that they reserve one plane for a particular route. Airplanes are made to be flying. We had to prove that we can do better with this plane on the route. We got it back and it is going to be great because we have new products on it. Introducing it at this time to our customers is the best thing to do. We are introducing it at this time because it is summer. This will come in before summer. Summer will wind up end of September, but it is still coming in summer and people can take advantage of it. The B747 has come to stay. Let us hope that our economy remains this way and continue to improve.

Things are going fairly ok. People are cautiously optimistic. I am not an expert, but we listen to a lot of experts and we see what the government is doing. We still need help but things are much better.

 

Last year was very tough for businesses and airline business in Nigeria because of their trapped funds, what is the situation? Has all the airlines including BA received all their trapped funds? At the peak of the crisis, did BA ever contemplate leaving Nigeria?

Let’s start with the trapped funds. I think things are a lot better now. I keep repeating that. We are daily selling. You can’t say they have given us all our money. They can never give us all our money because we are selling daily. As we are talking now, people are booking and paying. We cannot say they have finished paying us. What about the sales we made today?