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By Chinelo Obogo, [email protected]
The common knowledge in global aviation is that Nigerian routes are lucrative. But that is for foreign airlines and not domestic operators who have been edged out of their own skies.
A lot of factors are responsible but chief among them are the disparities around the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs). They leave local airlines with the slim slice of the juicy market as they limp behind the mega offshore carriers who have clawed on the larger portion for decades.
But a glimmer of hope is returning to Nigeria following the successful launch of flight operations into London Heathrow airport recently by Air Peace.
The feat restored confidence that Nigeria’s flag will once again fly on the global aviation arena.
Experts gathered this week in Lagos to discuss the best way Nigerian airlines can snatch back their share of the lucrative aviation market, especially on the competitive London route.
The event was hosted by the Chief Operating Officer of Saptco Communication Limited, Sam Adurogboye and themed: “International Politics: The Survival of Nigerian Carriers on the London Route.”
A former Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, delivered the keynote address and provided data sourced from the Authority which Daily Sun analysed to show the imbalance between the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) agreed frequencies of foreign operators and their Nigerian counterparts.
For clarity, BASAs are agreements between two countries that allow commercial air transport services between them and the major factor in these agreements is reciprocity, which means that the frequencies granted to one country’s airlines should be fairly balanced and matched by the other. But due to the fact that Nigeria has no national carrier and its flag carriers have limited international routes, there has been an imbalance in the BASA between Nigeria and so many countries.
The data provided by the former regulatory chief, shows a very wide gap in reciprocity where the frequencies granted to foreign carriers (with weekly approvals exceeding 277 frequencies) is not reciprocated by Nigerian airlines and this has shown a clear dominance by foreign operators.
Daily Sun analysed the data and classified airlines into three categories based on flight frequency: high, moderate and low. Among the high-frequency operators are major European carriers such as British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic, each running between seven and 14 weekly flights to Lagos, with some also serving Abuja.
Middle Eastern airlines, including Emirates, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways, also rank among the high-frequency operators, with Emirates and Turkish Airlines offering seven weekly flights to both Lagos and Abuja.
Several African carriers, such as Kenya Airways and Royal Air Maroc, operate seven weekly flights to Lagos, while RwandAir serves both Lagos and Abuja with the same frequency. In addition, Delta Airlines maintains seven weekly flights to Lagos, reinforcing the dominance of international carriers on key Nigerian routes.
The second category is the ones with moderate frequencies and they operate between two to seven flights weekly. Those that fall into this category are Air Cote d’Ivoire, EgyptAir, TAAG Angola, and Ugandan Airlines. The last category is the low frequency and seasonal carriers like Saudia Airlines which operates flights to Kano and Lagos only during Ramadan. Airlines like Air Algerie and Tarco Air operate two to four weekly flights.
African carriers are highly active, with airlines like African World having 35 weekly passenger frequencies to Lagos and 14 weekly passenger frequencies to Abuja. They currently operate 20 weekly passenger frequencies to Lagos and seven weekly frequencies to Abuja. Air Cote D’Ivoire has 14 weekly approvals to Lagos and six weekly to Abuja but it operates three weekly frequencies from Lagos to Abuja. These airlines account for the largest non-utilised capacity, with a 15-frequency gap between their BASA approval and operation. This shows that there is potential for regional competition if these rights are activated. Fly Gabon has four weekly frequencies to Abuja and operates four weekly frequencies to Port Harcourt. While the majority of the foreign carriers like British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Emirates are fully utilising their BASA approvals, the same cannot be said of Nigerian operators and the data shows that a capacity gap exists.
The data also shows the concentration of international air traffic rights and operations across three main Nigerian airports which are Lagos, which receives the largest share of both approved and current operational frequencies from nearly all listed airlines. Abuja comes second, while Port Harcourt comes third.
The data reinforces the argument that Nigeria has liberalised air access for foreign carriers which has contributed to the “BASA Imbalance.” The fact that 27 foreign airlines are listed, with over 277 total approved weekly frequencies, shows that there is a huge inflow of capacity that Nigerian carriers are currently unable to match on reciprocal routes. The implication is the perpetuation of a dependent aviation economy where foreign carriers dictate pricing and capacity, necessitating government intervention to either compel reciprocal rights for domestic carriers like in the case of Air Peace and the UK or renegotiate BASA agreements to ensure fairer protection of the domestic market.
Demuren said that Nigerians flying via foreign carriers like BA, Virgin, KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Delta, United, Emirates, Qatar, Ethiopian, represent huge capital flight. He revealed that at one time, Ethiopian Airlines earned 50 per cent of its ticket sales from Nigeria, showing the scale of capital flight and that the airline was then and still is the country’s number one foreign exchange earner. He lamented that Nigeria is exporting wealth and growing foreign aviation sectors while there is no dominant local carrier to retain value.
On price discrimination and regional imbalance, he said that Lagos-London fares are often higher than Accra-London fares despite having similar flight duration. He said foreign carriers are often overbooked and that there is therefore no incentive to lower ticket prices. He also pointed out that regional imbalance combined with lack of local competition is what has resulted in high fares and that only strong Nigerian carriers can break the pricing monopoly, as Air Peace has shown.
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On ticket pricing, he said foreign carriers impose discriminatory fares on Lagos compared to other West African hubs and that return fares from Lagos-London can be up to $5,000, whereas Accra-London fares are $3,500.
He said: “The biggest asset of an airline, not shown on the balance sheet, is the routes they operate. Routes guarantee revenue, market presence, and bargaining power. Foreign carriers aggressively defend Lagos-London for this reason.
Why does Lagos-London matter?
It is one of the highest-yield routes in the world and has massive passenger volume driven by business, diaspora, and trade. Also, Nigeria and the United Kingdom have strong economic and cultural ties like schools, housing, healthcare and the UK is a second home to many Nigerians.”
On what can be done for the survival of domestic carriers on that route, Demuren said Nigeria is not fully exploiting the BASA benefits due to capacity constraints.
He said interlining, partnerships, and strong government support are required to unlock full value.
“Enact a ‘Fly Nigeria Act’ which would require government-funded travel on Nigerian airlines. Renegotiate BASA terms. Support local airlines and protect market share for local carriers. Build Strong loyalty programs. Nigeria needs a compelling domestic frequent flyer program because this is the foundation for winning premium travelers and unlocking alliance partnership,” he said.
Enumerating what the government must do to help Nigerian carriers, he said they need assistance in aircraft leasing, access to foreign exchange and timely responses in times of challenges.
On what Nigerian carriers must do, he said that at all costs, they must not abandon passengers abroad, they should employ extra friendly, courteous, and polite but firm staff and be creditworthy with good corporate governance principles.
“Nigeria can survive in global aviation only by turning aeropolitics into strategy, leveraging its high-value routes, building the alliances, infrastructure, and policies that allow its carriers to compete and win,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Chief Commercial Officer of Air Peace, Nowel Ngala, who represented the Chairman, Allen Onyema, said the UK-Nigeria route is the first and highest traffic corridor amongst all other markets in Nigeria and has an annual traffic of over 450,000 travelers, making it the biggest market share in all the markets serving Nigeria.
He said: “Today, we have three carriers offering direct services between Lagos and Nigeria, and Gatwick and Heathrow airports, while other international carriers continue to serve the route via their respective hubs, transporting 29 per cent of the business and traffic out of Nigeria via their hubs into London. That is, Nigerians are still traveling, for example, through Doha, through Istanbul, through Paris, through Addis Ababa, to attain London and the UK.
“It is now exactly one year, eight months, since Air Peace successfully started direct flights from Lagos to Gatwick in March 2024. And we have steadily seen growth that has encouraged us recently to launch the additional flights from Abuja to Heathrow this year, last October 2025. Today, Air Peace has daily services from Lagos to Gatwick, three flights from Abuja to Heathrow on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, three flights from Abuja to Gatwick as well.
“Our earnest prayer at this point is for the establishment of a full hub for transit passengers to have seamless transit at Lagos and Abuja airports without passengers having to arrive, collect their luggage, and recheck to continue their journeys. This will enable Air Peace and other Nigerian carriers to further develop its safe freedom strategy to pull more traffic from the regions surrounding Nigeria and then to London, instead of allowing this traffic to go to other foreign carriers serving Nigeria.”
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in a goodwill message, emphasised that aviation is not merely a sector of transport but a vital engine of economic growth, both for Nigeria and the global community.
He added that the sector has far-reaching impacts on commerce, connectivity and national development.
Keyamo described the lecture’s theme as particularly close to his heart, noting that the Federal Government has consistently provided robust support to Nigerian airlines, enabling them to expand capacity and compete effectively on international routes.
“Our passion to support our domestic airlines also took us to some aircraft manufacturers and lessors like Boeing and others to advance the new narrative of collaboration for our people. The whole purpose we toured the world was to reconnect our domestic airlines to international partners for new opportunities to increase their capacity.
We have also continued to make policies and create an enabling environment for our airlines to thrive. Let me reassure you all that we are resolved to continue to play international aeropolitics to ensure that our indigenous airlines sustain the gains already made even as they continue to expand their routes while delivering excellent services,” he said.
