Air Peace rejects offer to operate from Gatwick of Stansted saying it must be Heathrow or nothing

NIGERIAN domestic airline Air Peace has rejected an offer from the UK's aviation authorities to fly into Gatwick or Stansted airports saying it will only operate Nigeria to Britain flights if it is allowed to land its planes at Heathrow.

Under the terms of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (Basa) between the UK and Nigeria, Air Peace has just obtained the UK Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation to fly into Britain. However, UK aviation authorities have proposed Air Peace run flight operations from either London Stansted or London Gatwick.

Both airports are on the UK's list of the top five busiest facilities but Allen Onyema, the chief executive of Air Peace has rejected the offer.  He is insisting on being offered a slot at Heathrow Airport in line with the dictates of the Basa agreement.

According to Mr Onyema, Air Peace wants to establish service to a primary airport, which in the case of the UK means Heathrow. He added that UK carriers, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, possess the capacity to operate flights from Nigeria's primary airports like the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

Mr Onyema said: "It took seven years for them to come and do the audit. Now we have got the approval, the next thing is slots and they are telling us to go to London Stansted or take London Gatwick.

"I'm not going to Stansted or Gatwick. You come to the primary airport in Nigeria and by Basa, you enjoy the two primary airports. So, you will give me your own primary airport. It must be Heathrow or nothing."

This is not the first time Nigeria and the UK are having a disagreement regarding airport slots as in 2011, Nigeria threatened to revoke permission for British airlines to land in the country due to Arik Air's inability to secure slots at Heathrow. According to ch-aviation.com, Air Peace is currently the sole Nigerian carrier authorised to operate in the UK, so it insists it must be given Heathrow.

Heathrow has the most coveted airport slots in the UK and indeed among the most sought-after globally, as the facility is one of the world's busiest aviation hubs, accommodating over 60m passengers annually. Known for its extensive global connectivity terminals tailored for major airline alliances, securing access to Heathrow's slots is a significant milestone that elevates an airline's presence in the industry.

In congested airports like Heathrow, the number of new slots available is very limited and  demand vastly exceeding supply. So valued is a presence at the airport that in 2016 Oman Air bought Heathrow slots from Air France-KLM for $75m and in 2015 American Airlines paid $60m for a pair of slots from Scandinavian Airlines SAS.