Why do you only hear these govt officials barking when it is about a matter that concerns them?

What about the exploitation by telecoms firms?
What about DSTV?
What about cost of rice?
What about cost of cement?
What about astronomical rents?
what about dangote's monopoly?
Fuel price nko?
kerosene fa?

All this one is not of concern to them, they are shouting themselves hoarse over flight fares.

Wetin concern Agbero wit overload? Why do you only hear these govt officials barking when it is about a matter that concerns them?

What about the exploitation by telecoms firms?
What about DSTV?
What about cost of rice?
What about cost of cement?
What about astronomical rents?
what about dangote's monopoly?
Fuel price nko?
kerosene fa?

All this one is not of concern to them, they are shouting themselves hoarse over flight fares.

Wetin concern Agbero wit overload?

aikuda: All these economist wannabes that keep relating the high cost of flight to nigeria to demand and supply, have your heard of economies of scale? The price in nigeria is supposed to be cheaper because of the size of the market. The risk of flying empty seats to and from Nigeria is lower than any other West African country.

I think is about how they us Nigerians. Its a good thing the Government is stepping up. They have been taking us for granted for 75 years, so is high time someone put a stop to it.

Applause bro. Applause.

If Our leaders can loot our resources..why won't foreign companies try the same. Theirs is even better, its under the guise of doing business. When our leaders learn to treat us with respect, foreigners will follow suit. Its as simple as that. Thumbs up to Madam stella though

Oh please not again!

Are BA and VS the only airlines that ply that route?is anyone forced to buy their tickets?

Don't we all know the folks that use BA and VS first and business classes?the politicians and contractors. Are they bothered about the fare?would they care or check elsewhere if tomorrow there is a 200% fare hike?NO!

Its all about class and showing off for us. The average ghanaian would use air maroc, klm, Turkish airline or any cheaper option for as long as the fare is reasonable, service is good etc as opposed to a nigerian whose first thought when flying is likely to be "what would my friends say when they heard I flew anything else besides BA"

Its so bad that you see immigration and airport workers looking down on people that alighted from "lesser" airlines as they put it.

Well, we want class?we've got it! No nagging or crying please.
BA/VS biz class, Abuja-London- Abuja = $4500. BA/VS biz class, Accra-London-Accra=$2000

Lmao.
Let's see what the minister would do. . .

~Bluetooth:

Many Nigerians are already suffering in this shithole called Nigeria,so i'm wondering what the consequence of britain retaliaton will be on Nigerians.Abeg let the battle begins jare.

:oYou mean this is your comment Mr Bluetooth, Now you wouldn't bash an IGBO Woman with your bigotry comments. We are the ppl who can fixed this shitty Nigeria

Novice1: Why do you only hear these govt officials barking when it is about a matter that concerns them?

What about the exploitation by telecoms firms?
What about DSTV?
What about cost of rice?
What about cost of cement?
What about astronomical rents?
what about dangote's monopoly?
Fuel price nko?
kerosene fa?

All this one is not of concern to them, they are shouting themselves hoarse over flight fares.

Wetin concern Agbero wit overload? Why do you only hear these govt officials barking when it is about a matter that concerns them?

What about the exploitation by telecoms firms?
What about DSTV?
What about cost of rice?
What about cost of cement?
What about astronomical rents?
what about dangote's monopoly?
Fuel price nko?
kerosene fa?

All this one is not of concern to them, they are shouting themselves hoarse over flight fares.

Wetin concern Agbero wit overload?

Bro your argument is very lopsided. So our government officials do not watch DSTV, buy rice, cement, kerosene, pay rents etc. And of course they don't make phone calls too.

The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. You should encourage what this brave woman is trying to do (I don't even know who she is - infact I'll have to check the first post to even see her name).

Nigeria is bad, Nigeria is bad, change has to start from somewhere. First a trickle, then it pours. We should encourage these few brave souls who try to change things for the better. This could stimulate/embolden lots of others to act likewise.

I use to tell my colleague that Nigeria is over due for revolution and he said what about "Occupy Nigeria" i told him O.N is rubbish the revolution i mean is the one that will be championed by ILLITERATE simply becos since independent our so called "EDUCATED NIGERIANS" has failed woefully that's why our country is a dumping ground/laughing stock in Africa and d entire globe, going through NL alone one will understand that education is an albatross to our development as a nation we all have our "rulers" as a case study, so maybe just maybe a revolt by the illiterate to seize power and try use common sense to fix Nigeria.

Richfella:

Bro your argument is very lopsided. So our government officials do not watch DSTV, buy rice, cement, kerosene, pay rents etc. And of course they don't make phone calls too.

The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. You should encourage what this brave woman is trying to do (I don't even know who she is - infact I'll have to check the first post to even see her name).

Nigeria is bad, Nigeria is bad, change has to start from somewhere. First a trickle, then it pours. We should encourage these few brave souls who try to change things for the better. This could stimulate/embolden lots of others to act likewise.

I get what you are saying, but if you are an average Nigerian like me, you pay for all those services from your pocket/salary.

But those guys? the govt pays for all these,so they dont feel the pinch. It is only the flights that eat into their pockets because of their constant junketing all over the world.

Nigeria are standing up for itself. i love this. long live the queen Nigeria

Bans are untidy and unprofessional.
Objectivity is needed, if cost of landing slot is frustrating Arik,then the aviation minister should see how landing cost for foreign airlines can be adjusted upwards to compensate and then find a means to help Arik grow it's business.
Asia is the axes to mingle with.
EU and co. are never happy when your local content is challenging their colonial content.
Intelligent policies are what we need, not rash decisions.

Just stop flying on both airlines. When they lose revenue, the will readjust. We need to think and act not just talk

I beg if d min' really want the show down they shld just go ahead,they r not God,if u give us independent does not make us a slave to u,while d threat as big as we r, but minor fools n cowards rule us without any firm decision on dis after 30days is then that we shall no who our leaders are...d biggest investors today comes from Asia,also Education is still there, with billions spent yearly by Nigerians in Uk.... We shld start putting things in order too.

The BA article says demand for first and Business class is high in Nigeria.Why shouldn't they charge higher for these two classes?
But if economy fare is on the higher side, there must be reasons for this and that is what BA needs to explain to the powers that be.
First you just cant compare Airlines routes and fares like you do for roads.Many factors determine the fare applicable not only distance.
Note that,Pax airlines esp BA/VS carry cargo and they try to maximise on that per route to reap profits.
My guess is,if they have sufficient cargo out of Nigeria then the fares may reduce drastically,but there's no way they are going to make any revenue if they fly half empty in economy and full in biz and first class while applying low fares across all classes.Its a loss.

It therefore doesn't make sense to compare ghana with nigeria cz of other factors.

remember when Abacha ban British airways they are the same people that came to beg. B.A cannot afford to lose Abuja and Lagos route cos they will lose so much revenue.I have said this before the Lagos/Abuja - london route a five and half hour journey is the most expensive in the world . Its is pure explotation. They do it because they can get away with it period!!!

There is no need for all the noise. The smart thing to do is issue the ultimatum, follow due process in doing so and let the 30days expire. When next BA or Virgin flies into the Nigeria airspace, the are denied landing rights. That would send shock waves across the Atlantic down to the English Channels!

I for one I do not fly BA, ad after flying Virgin, seeing how fleece their customers, their counter is a complete no go for me anywhere in the world!

It has been said over and over again. FG should be transparent, set-up an investment arm like UAE. Let these investment arms pour in money into several Nigerian own airlines and make them competitive and professional. Imagine how many jobs it will create if we have just 5 Nigeria owned and based 5th generation airline flying to nearly 70 destinations across the globe!

Just to add, the UK government threat of retaliatory measures is simply a threat. We know how fragile the UK Economy is and Nigeria is one of UK's largest trading partners in the developing economies. Nigeria have far less to loose as much we currently import from the UK can easily be gotten from the Far East. If BA or Virgin is wise, the should smartly design a reward scheme to compensate their customers in the interim while making serious plans to adjust their price and not get banned 'cos the spiral effect might be too damaging for the already dying BA!

As usual educated illiterates spouting usual nationalist jingoism, utter rubbish.

To start with there is no collective conspiracy by white people against black people, British government does not form committees on how to screw Nigeria.

any right thinking capitalist - most western oyibo countries follow the simple principle of 'follow the money'.

Lagos - London route is profitable for Virgin and BA but it doesn't affect the overall profit for either of these to airlines by up to 5% of their overall profit, especially BA. BA flies to over 150 international destinations, at least 50 flights a day to the US from the UK, whereas they do a maximum of 2 maybe 3 flights a day into Nigeria (go figure)

The biggest growing market for aviation is Asia and South America, that's where BA and virgin concentrate their efforts, so we should stop bigging our sleves like we are too important.

Arik Air cannot afford to pay landing fees in in Heathrow, all other profitable airlines in the world pay these fees, those of you who travel know that no fewer than 300 different airlines use Heathrow, compare that to MMA (we struggle to get 25 international airlines)

BA and Virgin pay landing fees to use MMA and Abuja.

Ark flys virtually empty between Abuja and London (I have a lot of friends who work for Arik)- once Arik flew with 7 (seven) passengers from Abuja to Lagos.

and here's the real problem, the minister is screaming that first class and business class fares are too high compared to Ghana- these are luxury seats; airlines can charge what they like for luxury seats, those over fed, overbloated oil executives and civil servants using our money are the ones rushing to fill the most expensive seats. Ghanaians either have more sense or less money so they are not rushing to fill the first or business class seats.

Just in case you are not aware, economy ticket from Lagos to London is usually not more than N250k whilst business class is at least N800k and first class can easily cost a million or more; who is the honorable minister advocating for?

Guess what what in the true spirit of Nigeria effezzy, no big man wants to fly business or first class with Arik.

Also for the record apart from BA, Virgin and Arik there are no other airlines flying direct flights to the UK, if you like use Emirates you pay the same and spend 18 hours for a 6 hour flight, or you want try Air Ariquaya wey go land you for Libya for one night first, oh Turkish airlines is there.

So let's get real and understand the issues - the minister is just blowing hot air, when last did she fly with Arik to London?

Abeg I don go sleep. If the fight start wake me up.

ismhab:
Then marry her.

you this aboki

“A British High Commission spokesman said if BA and Virgin are banned, it would cause potential foreign investors to question whether they want to put their money in Nigeria and have a long-term and damaging effect on Nigeria’s growth.”

Now this is sheer and utter blackmail by the British.

China isolated its economy from the West for a long time and instead of damaging them, it has made China probably the richest country in the World that even lends money to America. Although China also has the death penalty for corruption.

Why can't we have a honest Nigerian leader (who has no skeletons that the British can expose) to treat Britains Bleep up once and for all ??

Nigeria has no National Airline, we have no health service of repute, we have no roads, we have no electricity, we only have mass poverty caused by our corrupt leaders and now we are being blackmailed by a former colonialist country. When will Nigeria have leaders that we can be proud of instead of those who constantly capitulate to Foreign Governments just so that their secret stash of looted funds in those countries can be kept secret.

Where is our National pride ? Or do you think Britain will allow the 2 dominant international carriers in their country to be Nigeria Airways and Arik Air

First we allow Britain to send special forces to operate and launch a failed rescue operation on our soil and now emboldened by our timidity, their Ambassador to Nigeria has the nerve to try and blackmail us by threatening that if BA and Virgin are banned that it may have long-term and damaging effects on Nigeria’s growth.

The same Britain that turns a blind eye to the corruption of our LOOTOcrats who keep a sizable proportion of their loot in British banks. Is their complicity in helping to hide our leaders loot in their British banks not having a long-term and damaging effect on Nigeria’s growth and survival

Its just like the situation in Syria. The recently recalled/ejected British Ambassador to Syria is now saying that Syrians have never been governed properly and that the Syrian people deserve better leadership. But before the Syrian uprising, the British were quite happy to keep quite about the misrule in Syria.

The selfishness, hypocrisy and selective amnesia of the British is mind boggling.

@Ilekokonit

China isolated its economy from the West for a long time and instead of damaging them, it has made China probably the richest country in the World that even lends money to America.

[color=#006600][/color]

Do you know that China has over 500,000 American companies that have a presence in China?

How many countries have national airlines? National airlines went out in the 1970's. It's only poor third world countries that strive for status symbols national airline.

Heathrow alone handles over 1200 flights everyday, does MMA handle up to 50 flights a day?

Why do we think we are too much, a beg BA and Virgin can charge what they like for First class and business class, that's what our minister is complaining about, can you imagine

Richfella:

Bro your argument is very lopsided. So our government officials do not watch DSTV, buy rice, cement, kerosene, pay rents etc. And of course they don't make phone calls too.

The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. You should encourage what this brave woman is trying to do (I don't even know who she is - infact I'll have to check the first post to even see her name).

make she do am first b4 we start to praise am, all dis one na news and noise,very soon e go die down, e be like say una no know nigerians

why should an economy ticket from Lagos to london cost N250000 when an economy ticket from london to Lagos only cost N140000.

aikuda: All these economist wannabes that keep relating the high cost of flight to nigeria to demand and supply, have your heard of economies of scale? The price in nigeria is supposed to be cheaper because of the size of the market. The risk of flying empty seats to and from Nigeria is lower than any other West African country.

Try see if from this angle. The lower fares for Ghana and could b because they want to get more passengers (possibly Nigerians looking for better bargain) so as to run optimum utility. Maybe Accra-London flights fly empty like Arik's ABV-LHR and in economic wisdom, BA decided that lower fares will b a good incentive to attract london bound passengers in d west african sub-region. The NG-UK BASA allows 21 flights for each country and d UK has used all, if not they coulda created one more frequency to absorb d rising demand.

too parasitic a nation.. britain

good in destructing nations...

why should an economy ticket from Lagos to london cost N250000 when an economy ticket from london to Lagos only cost N140000.

Thats what you will see from parasites and wicked nation like britain.

First of all, Aviation Minister Stella Oduah is not a person to be taken seriously. She lacks objectivity and is extremely hypocritical. (1)A few months ago, she thoroughly embarrased Nigeria wt the ARIK Air saga because not even the simplest investigation was done to find out the cause of ARIK's loss of landing slots. (2)We were told that BA's flights will be restored to 14 uptill 31st Dec 2011 after which the 2 flights/day ban will commence. Your conclusion is as good as mine....we were taken as mumu again by Stella Oduah (3) She belongs to the Oil Subsidy Cabal and is one of those milking Nigeria daily. (4) She has an obvious bias against the United Kingdom. Lufthansa to Frankfurt is more expensive than Lagos to London so why single out BA & Virgin. ARIK is not cheap as well, they charge just as much economy fare as BA & Virgin if you understand seat pricing.

If you believe anything that woman says, then you can believe any s_ _ t!

faithin9ja's comments have summed it all up.

For the lazy govt officials and their sychophantic supporters on Nairaland, ther are a number of things that contribute to Nigeria been more expensive than Ghana e.g; Airport tax; Landing charges; Security charges; Parking charges; Overflight fees. Outsourcing services by Maevis. The one that will even further raise airfares and is generating anger world wide is EU airline pollution charges which started Jan 1.

Whilst i advocate for right pricing, a lot needs to be done by our govt to stop cheating us instead of making stupid pronouncements on TV that mean jack

Callotti: What exactly is the disagreement now?



Could it be because of the cost of operations as opposed to 'fleecing' Nigerians?

I don't really take the Nigerian angle seriously. . .there needs to be further investigation for accurate presentation of FACTS!

i think the write up was clear & unambiguous enough...one or two thousand dollars above Whats been charged passengers from neighbouring countries is really outrageous, and to think they are bent on leaving it that way threatening sanctions is baffling and leaves much to be desired. My opinion is, if we have an inkling of sovereignty left in the entity called nigeria, ban the stupid idiots and bear the consequences. its a price that is worth paying. But am sure the idiots we have asked to manage our affairs will in the name of diplomacy concede. Tomorrow you'll stand ur lean bones on a podium and tell me about sovereign entity... Nonsense

shymmex:

You sir, are an idiot!! Biggest investor in one-sided trade - no wonder why Wole Soyinka said: "A mistake in London is a fashion in Lagos". Wake up, if the trade was fair - I'll be the first person to post it on here, and promote British trade in Nigeria - but get real, the so-called trade is lopsided. I can't deny Nigeria, and the poor masses - we need to wake up and look for countries, which are willing to trade with us fairly - not exploiters.

NB: Let's get this thread on front page, and celebrate our heroes and heroines..

Please, post your Nigerian heroes and heroines here: https://www.nairaland.com/900756/notable-nigerian-heroes-we-all#10470998

Curious,
How does Wole Soyinka's statement (mistake in London, fashion in Lagos) apply to this?

This is what you get when you remain a slave and lackey to a western power.

This is what you get when you allow foreigners to come in and privatise every valuable asset and utility in your country in order to make as much money out of your populace as possible, we are now reaping the fruits of privatisation at the hands of enslavers.

I thought that when two countries enter into bilateral trade agreements both parties derive mutual benefits from it, why is it that the only party that seems to be benefitting from this bilateral trade agreement is the UK?

This is the first time that i ve heaard of air fares continuing to go up despite the high volume of passengers on a route- i thought the reverse was supposed to be the case?

why is it that it costs less to fly from the United Kingdom to most major cities in the United States than it does to fly from lagos or abuja to london which is a mere 6 hour flight? i think i know the answer - the most lucrative air route is being operated as a monopoly by british airways and virgin atlantic at the expense of the nigerian people.

this is why they can exploit nigerian passengers with impunity, the stu.pid nigerian govt under the guidance of obasanjo went ahead and sold off nigeria airways to the british and now they are milking us for every penny we've got.

isnt it a big shame that we do not have a national carrier? can you imagine britain allowing british airways and virgin atlantic to be sold off to the chinese? can you even begin to imagine how the british people would go crazy if they found out that the major airlines operating flights out of britain were owned by china?

but in nigeria anything goes - this is why we have britain running and operating one of the most profitable air routes in the world and people think its normal - what a shame!!!

it is the pride and joy of a nation to run and operate its own national carrier -

when are we going to stop allowing ourselves to be treated like docile fools?

cap28: This is what you get when you remain a slave and lackey to a western power.

This is what you get when you allow foreigners to come in and privatise every valuable asset and utility in your country in order to make as much money out of your populace as possible, we are now reaping the fruits of privatisation at the hands of enslavers.

I thought that when two countries enter into bilateral trade agreements both parties derive mutual benefits from it, why is it that the only party that seems to be benefitting from this bilateral trade agreement is the UK?

This is the first time that i ve heaard of air fares continuing to go up despite the high volume of passengers on a route- i thought the reverse was supposed to be the case?

why is it that it costs less to fly from the United Kingdom to most major cities in the United States than it does to fly from lagos or abuja to london which is a mere 6 hour flight? i think i know the answer - the most lucrative air route is being operated as a monopoly by british airways and virgin atlantic at the expense of the nigerian people.

this is why they can exploit nigerian passengers with impunity, the stu.pid nigerian govt under the guidance of obasanjo went ahead and sold off nigeria airways to the british and now they are milking us for every penny we've got.

isnt it a big shame that we do not have a national carrier? can you imagine britain allowing british airways and virgin atlantic to be sold off to the chinese? can you even begin to imagine how the british people would go crazy if they found out that the major airlines operating flights out of britain were owned by china?

but in nigeria anything goes - this is why we have britain running and operating one of the most profitable air routes in the world and people think its normal - what a shame!!!

it is the pride and joy of a nation to run and operate its own national carrier -

when are we going to stop allowing ourselves to be treated like docile fools?

Does Arik Air count as a national carrier?

I support the Nigerian minister on this one.
The British guys are unfair. I know fairs have always been a bit much for naija vs other neighbouring countries.
It's just one of those "let's milk the stupid monkeys" attitudes one has to watch out for when dealing with foreign entities.