Summary
- Air Peace has obtained the essential permits to fly into the UK, but still faces challenges corresponding to securing airport slots at Heathrow for its flights.
- The demand for Heathrow slots is high, and Air Peace would should be lucky to get the frequency it needs for a daily Heathrow service.
- Air Peace also faces other challenges in Nigeria, including the shortage of transit facilities at Nigerian airports and an absence of maintenance facilities for its aircraft.
Nigerian flag carrier Air Peace, in its tenth yr of service, has received each essential permits to fly into the UK. However the permits are only one step towards connecting the 2 countries.
Celebrating passing audits
Nigeria’s biggest airline, Air Peace, is celebrating earning its Foreign Carrier Operator Permit (FCOP) from the UK’s Civil Air Authority (CAA). This permit allows airlines from other regions to fly into the UK, and was only in a position to be applied for after the airline successfully obtained its Third Country Operator Permit (TCO-UK). CEO of Air Peace, Alan Onyema, shared with local media outlet BusinessDay that,
“We obtained these permits that qualify us to fly to UK. Before you obtain these approvals, they’ll audit you thoroughly. You have got to undergo a stringent audit, which we passed. We obtained the permit last week.”
Nevertheless, obtaining the permits fulfills just one requirement for providing international service. Air Peace still has several challenges to beat before its UK flights develop into a reality.
Airport slots are one other matter
For Onyema, access to Heathrow Airport via slots to fly in to park an airplane to transfer passengers and freight before departing is a must. As Onyema put affairs,
“It took seven years for them to come back and do the audit and also you don’t blame them. Now we now have got the approval. The subsequent thing is slot they usually are telling us to go to Stansted or take Gatwick. I’m not going to Stansted or Gatwick. You come to the first airport in Nigeria… you benefit from the two primary airports. So, you’ll give me your personal primary airport. It should be Heathrow or nothing. We waited seven years and we should be there.”
Nevertheless, the matter will not be so simple as flag carrier reciprocity. As an example, Heathrow slots are in high demand, and such slots are appropriated based on a bidding process and never geopolitical relations. Some forfeited slots are prioritized for brand spanking new entrants each season, but to get the frequency Air Peace must facilitate a daily Heathrow service, it will must be very lucky indeed.
In response to a Head for Points evaluation, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have 56.09% of the slots at Heathrow, with other global airlines holding the remaining 43.96% – neither easyJet nor Ryanair flies out of the airport. But Heathrow slots are in high demand – and the airport is rebounding well from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced slowdown.
Moreover, Easy Flying Managing Editor Jo Bailey and Content Manager Tom Boon suggested on the September 29 Easy Flying podcast that Air Peace must be London’s Gatwick Airport for multiple reasons – not least of which is the chances of getting a Heathrow slot are “pretty slim.” It’s price adding that Gatwick Airport has flights to over 220 destinations throughout the world, in addition to strong public transit connections to downtown London, so servicing Gatwick Airport wouldn’t be a loss for Air Peace.
Getting slots will not be Air Peace’s only challenge
Nigerian newspaper The Nation reported Onyema can also be grousing concerning the lack of transit facilities for passengers who’re only in Nigeria to make a connecting flight at each the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (DNAA), Abuja. Onyema wants MMIA in Lagos to have a transit facility, and believes this can make Air Peace more marketable.
Photo: shynebellz | Shutterstock
As Onyema explains,
For Nigerian airlines to compete and profit from the Single Air Transport Market (SAATAM), we must upgrade our airports to incorporate transit facilities, and immigration should adopt a brand new policy that recognizes transit passengers.
This example keeps Air Peace from with the ability to fully utilize its inbound aircraft orders, which include the Boeing 737 MAX 8, plus Embraer E195-E2 and E175 models. The Embraer jets are intended to efficiently service routes with long distances but small demand.
Photo: Embraer
Moreover, Air Peace lacks a maintenance facility for its aircraft, which puts the fleet at high risk of being stranded. A check of the ch-aviation database on November 5 shows 15 aircraft lively with 14 inactive – equally split between being stored or in maintenance.
Finally, Air Peace will not be immune from the issues of doing business in Nigeria. Sadly, in September, the Nigerian Central Bank withheld tens of millions in funds from the airline.
Air Peace has overcome among the hurdles between its London ambitions and its launch, but there remains to be some technique to go.
What are your thoughts? Please share with civility within the comments
: BusinessDay, ch-aviation.com, Head for Points, The Nation