FG addressing Air Peace’s Heathrow landing slot issue internally – Keyamo

• Published On: 23 October 2024 at 12:04

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has stated that the Federal Government will tackle the situation internally in response to requests for a landing slot for Nigeria's flag carrier, Air Peace, at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom.

According to The Punch, Keyamo made this declaration on Tuesday in response to a recent letter from the UK about the matter.

Recall that Air Peace has been assigned to Gatwick Airport, which analysts have compared to Nigeria's Enugu airport, while UK airlines continue to fly into Nigeria's main airports, Lagos and Abuja.

To address this problem, the aviation minister has written to the UK government, expressing his discontent with the situation and warning that if Air Peace is not allowed a landing slot at Heathrow, flights from the UK may be barred from landing at Nigeria's main airports.

In response, Louise Haigh, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, stated that the UK government is not responsible for Air Peace's inability to secure a landing slot at Heathrow Airport.

She added that the allotment of landing slots is outside the government's control and is purely the responsibility of Airports Coordination Limited, an independent company charged with this purpose.

"All foreign and domestic airlines seeking slots at coordinated airports in the UK must apply to Airports Coordination Limited, an independent slot coordinator that allocates slots independently of the UK Government and follows globally recognised guidelines and processes, including the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines.

"ACL is legally required to operate in an impartial, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner that promotes a competitive, autonomous market. The UK Government has no authority to intervene in this body's slot allocation process or to direct the coordinator in allocating specific slots.

"We will continue to welcome all carriers to the UK and support a competitive independent market - the allocation of slots, however, remains a matter for airlines to discuss with ACL," said a government spokesperson.

When pressed for a remark, the aviation minister indicated that because it is a diplomatic problem, the countries will handle it internally.

"For the time being, we prefer to deal with the issues internally because they affect our diplomatic ties. Even the letter got out there without our authorisation. You can see that the date is from last month. So, at an opportune time, we will update you all on the status of the situation," Keyamo remarked.

When approached, a senior Air Peace executive, who sought anonymity owing to a lack of authorisation to comment, claimed that the airline's management would respond at the proper time.

"We are not joining issues with anyone. When necessary, our COO will respond accordingly. We will surely send a statement about it when the time is right," the official remarked.