Summary
- United Nigeria Airlines has been granted approval to operate intercontinental flights to the US, UK, UAE, and more countries.
- The carrier must complete several processes, including obtaining permission and crucial documentation from civil aviation authorities, before it will probably begin non-stop services.
- It’ll be difficult for United Nigeria Airlines to secure regulatory approval and acquire proper licensing to start flights to the US and Europe. The carrier also needs to accumulate appropriate aircraft for these services.
Nigeria’s government has granted privately-owned carrier United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) approval to launch flights to america, the UK, and five other countries. Nonetheless, foreign regulatory approval will likely be difficult, because the carrier must complete several processes before these services begin.
Approval to operate intercontinental flights
UNA received a letter on September 10 from Hassan Ejinubu, the Director of Air Transport Management within the Nigerian Ministry of Aviation. The carrier has been given the green light to operate scheduled flights to the US, the UK, the UAE, the Netherlands, Italy, and Ireland.
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Nigerian carriers can operate US flights under the present BASA and the US FAA IASA program. Nonetheless, UNA will still must liaise with the regulatory body and acquire proper licensing, which will likely be tricky. Easy Flying spoke to Airline Executive and Aviation Expert Sean Mendis. He said;
“Nigeria is currently classified as Category 1 under the US FAA IASA program, so Nigerian carriers aren’t banned from starting latest routes to the USA; nonetheless, they may still must satisfy each the US Dot Part 129 licensing requirements in addition to the FAA operational requirements.”
Currently, USA-Nigeria connections are offered by US-based airlines and are only available from two destinations. Delta Air Lines operates day by day Airbus A330 flights from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) to Lagos Murtala Muhammed (LOS), while United Airlines operates three weekly B787 flights from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Flying to Europe
Similarly, Nigeria’s agreements with the varied European countries allow for several scheduled services. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and KLM all operate flights to Nigeria from their respective hubs.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
UNA must meet operational and safety requirements to fly to Europe, and approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will likely be difficult. Moreover, the carrier will need to accumulate high-capacity, long-range aircraft for the services. It only has 4 Embraer 145LRs in its fleet.
Sean Mendis added;
“Designation is step one on an extended journey. The airline currently operates only regional aircraft, so might want to add appropriate aircraft types for these services, in addition to display operational and safety competence in compliance with each Nigerian and destination country regulations.”
In cases of routes just like the UK and Netherlands, they will even have issues obtaining slots at airports like Heathrow and Schiphol given the congestion and other restrictions in place.
For instance, Nigeria’s Air Peace has made efforts to launch flights to London Heathrow (LHR) but with no success. The carrier is now planning to launch London flights later this 12 months.
Flying to the Middle East
Nigeria has no direct reference to the UAE. Emirates was a big player within the Nigerian market, offering as much as 11 weekly flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Lagos. Nonetheless, the route was suspended last 12 months due to a dispute with the Nigerian government regarding blocked funds.
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Air Peace also operated flights to Dubai, however the service was discontinued due to visa ban. Last month, President Bola Tinubu called for an instantaneous resolution to the rift between the 2 nations, which has affected airline operations and visa issuance for Nigerians. The regulatory approval granted to UNA supports the federal government’s plan to re-establish connections with the United Arab Emirates.
Do you think that United Nigerian Airlines will have the ability to start flights to america, Europe, and the Middle East? Please share your thoughts within the comments!