The media has been filled with reports about the protest letter written by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to his British counterpart.
The letter was written to lodge a formal complaint about the UK airport authority’s refusal to allow the Nigerian Air Peace to land at Heathrow Airport.
In a letter dated August 1, 2024, and addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Keyamo warned 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.
The UK’s Heathrow Airport could be compared to Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, and Gatwick Airport, UK, may be likened to the Enugu International Airport.
Efforts by Air Peace to get a slot at Heathrow, which is closer to the heart of London, have been unsuccessful, PUNCH has learnt.
Meanwhile, Nigeria and the United Kingdom are both parties to a bilateral aviation safety agreement, Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement,BASA an agreement that provides for Civil Aviation Certifications to be shared between the two countries.
