Air Peace given permits to land at UK airports under bilateral air service agreement

NIGERIAN airline Air Peace has secured the required permits from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to initiate flights to the United Kingdom as part of a bilateral air agreement which enhances direct flights between both nations.

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.

A CAA spokesperson confirmed that Air Peace has received both its foreign carrier operator permit and its third country operator permit. Auer Peace chairman Allen Onyema, has been demanding access to London Heathrow as the UK’s primary airport, citing reciprocity principles.

Back in 1988, the bilateral air service agreement between the two countries authorises designated Nigerian carriers to fly to London, without specifying an airport. It also allowed them to fly to Manchester, while designated British carriers are allowed to fly to Abuja and Lagos.

Mr Onyema said: “We obtained these permits that qualify us to fly to the UK. Before you obtain these approvals, they will audit you very well. You have to go through a stringent audit, which we passed. We obtained the permit last week."

In September, Air Peace 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. Mr Onyema insisted on being offered a slot at Heathrow Airport in line with the dictates of the Basa agreement.

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 airline SAS..