Senate seeks renegotiation of Nigeria-China BASA to allow direct flights into China

The Senate has kicked against the existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and China, seeking a review that would allow Nigerian commercial airlines to fly directly to the Asian country.

There are currently no direct flights from Nigeria to China despite the BASA, which the Senate considers skewed in favour of China.

Nigerian travellers generally connect to China through hubs such as Addis Ababa, Cairo, Dubai, Istanbul, London and Frankfurt.

In a resolution passed in Abuja on Tuesday, the Senate called on the Federal Government to renegotiate the BASA to allow Nigerian airlines to operate direct flights to China.

It also urged the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate diplomatic talks with China on business visa facilitation for Nigerian traders and reciprocal slot allocations at Chinese airports.

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The Senate’s decision followed a motion moved by its Chief Whip, Senator Mohammed Monguno, who recalled that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the BASA to establish direct commercial air links and regulate flight frequencies between Nigeria and China, but the agreement has largely remained unimplemented.

The motion read in part: “The Senate also notes that the volume of trade between Nigeria and China reached $18 million in the first half of 2025, a 35 per cent increase year-on-year, building on a total of $28 billion recorded in 2026.

“Aware that the BASA instrument is intended to establish direct scheduled Nigeria-China flights that would transform the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, from mere origin and destination points into primary gateways linking West and Central Africa to East Asia.

“Also aware that the population of Nigerians in China is more than 1,000,000, while that of Chinese nationals in Nigeria is more than 500,000. This has generated China’s interest in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy, which offers a massive market on the African continent.

“Further aware that the benefits of enforcing such a bilateral agreement include drastically reducing travel time, increasing supply chain efficiency, retaining foreign exchange through reduced capital flight, generating aeronautical revenue for Nigerian airports, boosting commercial SME growth and non-oil exports, and accelerating perishable exports, among other benefits.”

The Senate further noted that “what is urgently required to enforce such a fantastic air agreement lies across executive policy instruments from the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).”

Commenting on the matter, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said an air agreement that allowed only Chinese airlines to fly directly to Nigeria was not in the country’s commercial interest.

“If it’s only China that can fly directly to Nigeria and Nigerians can’t, then it’s something we need to rejig,” he added.