Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has lodged a formal complaint with his British counterpart over the refusal to grant Air Peace, Nigeria’s flag carrier, access to Heathrow Airport.
Currently, Air Peace operates from Gatwick Airport, a secondary airport in the UK, due to slot allocation restrictions.
In a letter dated August 1, 2024, addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace is not allocated slots at Heathrow, Nigeria may retaliate by restricting British Airways and Virgin Atlantic’s access to Lagos and Abuja airports.
Keyamo’s actions reflect Nigeria’s dissatisfaction with the current situation and its commitment to ensuring equal treatment for its airlines under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).
The Minister had previously indicated that Nigeria would pursue this issue vigorously, highlighting the potential consequences for British airlines if the matter is not resolved.