"Alleged" Reason Why British Airways Cut Arik's Flights

Sources revealed that the British Airways had taken the decision to cut Arik flight from Abuja to London following the realisation that the passenger load of Arik had risen sharply since the commencement of the Abuja-London direct flight.

It was learnt that following the downward review of fare by Arik and the upsurge in the passenger load of the airline, British Airways felt threatened on the route. Nigeria had been awarded 21 flights on the Nigeria-UK flight, of which Arik uses 12 while the remaining nine belong to Air Nigeria and the defunct Bellview Airlines.

FAAN MD, Uriesi explains that the Federal Government was not comfortable with the manner Arik Air was edged out of Heathrow on its Abuja-London operations, saying the fact that the slots denied Arik were given to British Airways angered the government. According to him, though the issue of slot allocation at Heathrow was determined by commercial considerations, the sudden increase in the cost of slots to Arik at the airport gave the impression of a deliberate plot to muscle the airline out of the route.

He said failure of government to take action might spell doom for the country’s airlines in future, as other foreign airlines would be encouraged to do a similar thing to a Nigerian carrier. He said: “When you have a bilateral air services agreement between two countries, it is about accessing your market, it is about exchange to that market. The reality of the situation is that the government provides the framework for the access to that market.

“The United Kingdom has 21 frequencies, which gives room for British carriers to access our market 21 times a week, and Nigerian carriers can access the British market 21 times a week, it is all about exchange to access market.

“Now, on the side of the British carriers, it is exchange to your market and what I will exchange for it into your own market. The agreement sort of specifies how that access will work out. For the British carriers, they are utilising the entire 21 slots as they have two carriers, BA and VAA, but on the Nigerian side, only Arik Air is exercising that right.