Industry experts have commended Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development for implementing the ‘Nigeria First’ initiative of the Federal Government in the sector. OLUSEGUN KOIKI writes.
Last week, Dr. Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace, unveiled plans by the airline to commence another flight service to the United Kingdom.
The airline had on March 31, 2024, begun the Lagos-Gatwick route, the United Kingdom secondary airport with a huge success, but its attempt to operate into the London Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom had been met with huge diplomatic resistance from the British authorities using slots unavailability.
The British authorities, led by its United Kingdom Department for Transport had told the airline that it was not in charge of slots for London Heathrow Airport.
The department in a response letter to Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Nigeria, dated September 5, 2024, signed by Rt. Hon Louise Haigh, Secretary of State For Transport, UK and addressed to the Nigerian minister, advised Air Peace to apply to Airports Coordinator Limited (ACL), the independent slot coordinator for slot allocation at the London Heathrow Airport.
According to the letter, all foreign and domestic airlines seeking slots at coordinated airports in the UK were required to apply to the independent slot coordinator of the UK Government, using globally recognised guidelines and processes including the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines.
Haigh insisted that ACL was legally required to act in a neutral, transparent and non-discriminatory way that supports a competitive, independent market.
Haigh also declared that Heathrow Airport was constrained by capacity issues.
According to him, in the Summer of 2024 season, there were a total of 290,580 slots available; given the capacity constraints, historic rights, and the growth ambitions of all carriers, but the number of slots requested reached 319,721.
He declared that this meant that that carriers had unfulfilled requests for 29,141 slots, which were placed on to a waitlist to potentially receive slots returned to the pool, adding that Gatwick Airport was the second busiest airport in the UK, with many connections to Europe, Asia, and North America.
The letter read in part: “I am aware that your officials received a detailed briefing from the UK Department for Transport in January 2024 – the UK’s system for the allocation of slots has not altered substantially since then.
“London’s airports, especially Heathrow, continue to be capacity-constrained with very few new slots available to be allocated to carriers.
“As you may be aware, Heathrow Airport is constrained by runway capacity and an air traffic movement limit, which places downward pressure on the number of slots available in any operating season.”
But, Keyamo would not take any of these excuses.
He subtly kicked against the feeble excuse given by the United Kingdom Department for Transport to deny Air Peace or any other Nigerian airline the right to operate into Heathrow or any other airport of their choice in the UK.
Earlier, Keyamo had written to his British counterpart and lodged a formal complaint over the refusal of the British authorities to allow Air Peace to fly to London Heathrow Airport.
Keyamo in a letter dated August 1, 2024, and addressed to Haigh, issued a subtle threat, warning that if Air Peace was not allocated a space at London Heathrow, Nigeria would be forced to “reciprocate” by denying British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots at the Lagos and Abuja airports.
Currently, two British carriers, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, operate daily flights into Lagos and Abuja airports.
He insisted that Nigeria would no longer allow a situation where the country’s airlines were not allowed to tier one airports overseas in line with the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) arrangement, stressing that failure not to comply with this, may lead to Nigeria taking British Airways and others to places like Ilorin, Kano, and other obscure places.
But, all the aero-politics by the British authorities seem to have come to an end with the announcement by Onyema that Air Peace would on October 26, 2025, commence direct daily flights to Heathrow Airport from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
Onyema also commended Keyamo for his massive support to the airline and other carriers in the sector.
He insisted that without the backing of the minister, the London Heathrow Airport operations would not have continued as an unrealisable dream.
He said: “The British Authorities have granted Air Peace Heathrow. From October 26, we are going to start Abuja-Heathrow. It is going to be a daily flight out of Abuja.
“So once more, I must commend Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development for running around the aviation world and getting them to have a look into this country to the extent that the language of the Cape Town Convention has now changed in the favour of this country, in favour of dry business that made it possible for the aviation world to be looking our way.
“I must also commend President Bola Tinubu for appointing Keyamo as our minister. Keyamo has brought ease-of-doing business to the aviation industry. So, I must commend our president for appointing him as a minister for us.”
Cape Town Convention Compliance
Onyema also explained that the compliance of Nigeria to the Cape Town Convention (CTC) through the introduction of the Federal High Court (Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol) Practice Direction, 2024, which has resulted in a higher CTC compliance score, has made Nigeria a more attractive destination for aircraft financing and leasing.
Already, he said major leasing companies have returned to do business with the current operators on dry lease agreement after years of blacklisting the country due to non-compliance with the CTC.
He also lauded Keyamo for facilitating this and for pushing for seamless operations for the nation’s airlines.
Experts in the Nigerian aviation industry, have consistently at different times, lauded the performance of the minister since his appointment by Tinubu.
Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, the General Secretary, Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), said that so far, Keyamo had been able to push “Nigeria first” in all his dealings.
According to him, apart from designating Nigerian carriers on international destinations, the minister had also protected the airlines in the same routes, unlike in the past where such Nigerian operators were abandoned to their fate by the government.
He said: “He has exhibited more of that movement of having Nigerian airlines participate and that is a positive energy for the airlines to begin to see that they are not alone and that for the first time, we are having a minister who when he designates a carrier on any route outside Nigeria, it becomes his responsibility to protect such a carrier. That I give to him.”
Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), West Link Airlines, in a recent interview with our correspondent said that Keyamo had taken some bold steps to stabilise the industry, despite not being an aviation professional.
According to Mshelia, the recent setting up of a Ministerial Taskforce on Illegal Air Charter Operations and Related Matters by Keyamo, revealed some huge, but obvious gaps in the civil aviation industry in Nigeria.
He said the minister had taken numerous bold steps that required commendation from everyone.
He said: “The fact is that nobody is perfect, but I will say that there are some bold steps Mr. Keyamo has taken that no other minister in the industry has done in the past. So, I give him credit for that.
“For instance, there has been a criminal gang that has been sabotaging the industry for a very long time; brokers and illegal charter operators. He is the only one who is bold enough to stop them. For me, that is the biggest kudos I can give him.
“There were certain times that he stepped outside the cycle, but I will blame it on his advisers. He is a lawyer and not an aviator, however, he has performed very well so far. He has shown boldness.”
To Mr. Frank Oruye, aviation expert, Keyamo had brought in a more transparent approach to the dealings of the ministry.
Oruye specifically mentioned the speed at which the minister addressed the controversial and the behind the scene deals of the botched Nigeria Air debacle, which was in 2024 cancelled by the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos as one of such examples of transparency and fervent steps.
According to Oruye, Keyamo had also since his appointment, showed avid support to the indigenous airlines and other organisations in the sector, stressing that this would further reduce capital flight out of the country.
“The commencement of Air Peace operations to England is commendable, after all the blockage from the previous regime,” he said.
To Capt. Mohammed Badamasi, a pilot with the defunct Nigeria Airways, Keyamo inherited numerous challenges when he assumed office about two years ago.
These, according to him, included the controversial Nigeria Air project, concessioning of four airports, flight delays and cancellations, shortage of serviceable aircraft, multiple destinations to foreign carriers, taxation, dollar security and repatriation, airport land encroachment, rising airfares, touting and hawking.
So far, he said the performance of the minister was commendable.