Claus:

I will comment on this based on the info I have and hope to be forgiven if I'm missing something here.

The rataliatory move by the Nigerian govt is wrong! The issue Arik had was that they could not get landing slots at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world. Many other airlines face the same issue and work around it by utilising Gatwick, Stansted etc. Arik is not the only airline that has had problems getting slots at Heathrow.

The U.K. govt did not reduce the number of times that Arik (or any other Nigerian airline) can fly into the U.K. The previous agreement of 21 flights for each country still stands. This is a demand and supply issue. Heathrow is heavily oversubscribed, unlike the Lagos and Abuja airports. It will always be much easier for the British carriers to get a slot in Lagos/Abuja, than for a Nigerian carrier to get a slot at Heathrow. Someone rightly gave the example of how Virgin Nigeria used Gatwick, that is one way around it.

It's NOT the British govt's fault and it is not BA's fault; the retaliatory move is very short sighted.

gists:

For the 1st time I have to clap for GEJ. It's long overdue to call the bluff of these western powers. I just hope it will be sustained as I am afraid they will chicken-out b4 we can blink our eyes to protect their foreign accounts.

I hope GEJ extend the same move to MTN (I heard they moved their HQ to Ghana- yet project fame is perpetually hosted by naija where the market really lies) Micheline, and other companies that have abandoned Nigeria for Ghana.

blackpanda:

Actually its this your comment that is more shortsighted. For months the british government has been announcing its desire to reduce the amount of nigerians coming into their country, so this recent move should not come as a surprise to anyone. The nigerian govt's position is simple: since u said we should not come into your country, then pls dont come into ours either. So in other words "to your tenth o israel"!
If our govt had kept quiet, its still shortsighted people like you that would have been screaming that GEJ is a weakling!

Claus:

The British govt has been looking at reducing immigration in general, not just on Nigerian immigrants. If the Nigerian govt want to tackle that, its completely separate from who gets what landing slots at which airport.

You don't know my opinions on GEJ and my opinions about him are actually beside the point.

We've turned an issue about landing slots into one about how many flights their airline can have (bearing in mind the British govt did not reduce the number of flights for Nigerian airlines) and now into talk about immigration.

I called the MOVE by our govt shortsighted, you in turn decided to call ME shortsighted. There's absolutely no need for that and certainly no need for me to carry on a discussion with you.

Take the discussion to whatever level you want to.

I'M OUT!

Claus:

The British govt has been looking at reducing immigration in general, not just on Nigerian immigrants. If the Nigerian govt want to tackle that, its completely separate from who gets what landing slots at which airport.

You don't know my opinions on GEJ and my opinions about him are actually beside the point.

We've turned an issue about landing slots into one about how many flights their airline can have (bearing in mind the British govt did not reduce the number of flights for Nigerian airlines) and now into talk about immigration.

I called the MOVE by our govt shortsighted, you in turn decided to call ME shortsighted. There's absolutely no need for that and certainly no need for me to carry on a discussion with you.

Take the discussion to whatever level you want to.

[size=16pt]I'M OUT[/size]!

Guk:

For someone who has flown to and fro London from Ghana because the taxes are less than Nigeria's and paying less than =N=20k return on AERO to Ghana to connect those flights, BA will simple do deal with AERO & Air Nigeria, increase their slots to Ghana and move people seamlessly over the xmas period.

Ghana will benefit; Nigerians will travel with just a 45 minute inconvience; BA will continue to thrive; our politicians will still use BA 1st Class & uninformed ones on NL will keep hailing the politicians, what a shame!!!!

Madcow:

Great news!!!

If Arik W3 cannot get slots in Heathrow, BA should be moved to Calabar or Kano, LOL

1forall:

I trust my people, no tact, no analysis, just straight 'abeg reduce their flights' action. In the current arrangement who needs who more?

Guk:

For someone who has flown to and fro London from Ghana because the taxes are less than Nigeria's and paying less than =N=20k return on AERO to Ghana to connect those flights, BA will simple do deal with AERO & Air Nigeria, increase their slots to Ghana and move people seamlessly over the xmas period.

Ghana will benefit; Nigerians will travel with just a 45 minute inconvience; BA will continue to thrive; our politicians will still use BA 1st Class & uninformed ones on NL will keep hailing the politicians, what a shame!!!!

1forall:

To those hailing the move by the Nigerian authorities, its a shame that many of the arguments here are just plain lame.

Guk described it as 'cutting one's nose to spite one's face' and couldn't be more right. I doubt those authorities thought the effects of their action through before announcing their cowardly move.

What concerns BA with Arik's problems? What would it have taken them to open negotiations with the British Authorities? Were any mediatory steps taken before they decided on the drastic action? I guess not, who in his right mind would compare London Heathrow with Lagos MM?

If these guys (Min of Aviation, NCAA, FAAN) understood a bit more of the competition and politics of landing at Heathrow maybe they would have judged the situation better and made a smarter move instead. Even between BA and its local rivals Virgin Atlantic, a whole lot of politicking and tussling has transpired with the Heathrow slots. But I trust my people, no tact, no analysis, just straight 'abeg reduce their flights' action. In the current arrangement who needs who more?

mujila:

Some much ignorance on Nairaland! Lol

Guk:

@sweet9ja, Sit down there and think other nations are waiting for you. Ghana has started converting their domestic terminal to accommodate increase in Airlines flying into Ghana. AERO's ticketing desk has been moved to the domestic terminal and a dividing wall on the 1st floor opened up to connect to the International Wing.

Virgin Atlantic started operations in Ghana just last year and i have been on flights to London with scores of Nigerians onboard who came to catch the flight from Lagos.

one of the reasons United started flying into Nigeria late last year was because a sizable number of their patrons were from Nigeria coming over to catch direct flight to Washington DC.

In 3rd week August this year, my AERO plane had over 100 Nigerian young adults who were going back to resume school in Ghana. A major indictment on our educational system & you people are busy hailing ignorant leaders

Guk:

@sweet9ja, Sit down there and think other nations are waiting for you. Ghana has started converting their domestic terminal to accommodate increase in Airlines flying into Ghana. AERO's ticketing desk has been moved to the domestic terminal and a dividing wall on the 1st floor opened up to connect to the International Wing.

Virgin Atlantic started operations in Ghana just last year and i have been on flights to London with scores of Nigerians onboard who came to catch the flight from Lagos.

one of the reasons United started flying into Nigeria late last year was because a sizable number of their patrons were from Nigeria coming over to catch direct flight to Washington DC.

In 3rd week August this year, my AERO plane had over 100 Nigerian young adults who were going back to resume school in Ghana. A major indictment on our educational system & you people are busy hailing ignorant leaders

AjanleKoko:

Nice one by the govt.

We don't need BA on the route. Let them focus on Accra, Libreville, and the entire West African sub-region if they like. Other airlines have taken most of their traffic anyway. These days I fly Emirates to London sef.

manny4life:

@1forall

But I trust my people, no tact, no analysis, just straight 'abeg reduce their flights' action. In the current arrangement who needs who more?


Please do us all a favor and just take a sleeping pill. You're asking who needs more? Like duh? Who do you think need more? BA or the Nigerian people? This is competition, if BA does not address this in a timely manner, this will hurt their business, no questions asked. Nigerians have always and WILL ALWAYS continue to find other alternative which I believe there are, deal with it. This is basic demand and supply; if the supply of BA falls, there will be more demand, other airlines will step up the plate and take the business. Airlines that have LHR as their hub will certainly be more than glad to do business. Now who do you think needs the other the most?

manny4life:


There goes option 1, fly Emirates. Emirates is a neat, decent airline.

To those hailing the move by the Nigerian authorities, its a shame that many of the arguments here are just plain lame.

Guk described it as 'cutting one's nose to spite one's face' and couldn't be more right. I doubt those authorities thought the effects of their action through before announcing their cowardly move.

What concerns BA with Arik's problems? What would it have taken them to open negotiations with the British Authorities? Were any mediatory steps taken before they decided on the drastic action? I guess not, who in his right mind would compare London Heathrow with Lagos MM?

If these guys (Min of Aviation, NCAA, FAAN) understood a bit more of the competition and politics of landing at Heathrow maybe they would have judged the situation better and made a smarter move instead. Even between BA and its local rivals Virgin Atlantic, a whole lot of politicking and tussling has transpired with the Heathrow slots. But I trust my people, no tact, no analysis, just straight 'abeg reduce their flights' action. In the current arrangement who needs who more?

will comment on this based on the info I have and hope to be forgiven if I'm missing something here.

The rataliatory move by the Nigerian govt is wrong! The issue Arik had was that they could not get landing slots at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world. Many other airlines face the same issue and work around it by utilising Gatwick, Stansted etc. Arik is not the only airline that has had problems getting slots at Heathrow.

The U.K. govt did not reduce the number of times that Arik (or any other Nigerian airline) can fly into the U.K. The previous agreement of 21 flights for each country still stands. This is a demand and supply issue. Heathrow is heavily oversubscribed, unlike the Lagos and Abuja airports. It will always be much easier for the British carriers to get a slot in Lagos/Abuja, than for a Nigerian carrier to get a slot at Heathrow. Someone rightly gave the example of how Virgin Nigeria used Gatwick, that is one way around it.

It's NOT the British govt's fault and it is not BA's fault; the retaliatory move is very short sighted

1forall:

Haven't you just goofed there ^? It was a rhetorical question and you didn't need to spend your time trying to answer. Address the matter on hand and while at it make a coherent argument. I'll unpick your feeble attempt at constructing one here, um. . . . on second thought I won't bother cos it's needless.

Just so you know, LHR is hub to 3 airlines and 2 already fly into Lagos. The third, BMI, will find it near impossible to operate the LHR-LOS route for many reasons one of which is it's owned by Lufthansa and would be seen as foreign competition on home ground. If they easily could, they wouldn't be renting their slots to Arik.

Connecting thru Dubai is not comparable to flying direct.