The Federal Government said on Monday that it stood by the 30-day ultimatum given to foreign airlines, especially British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, to reduce their airfares or risk being banned from flying into Nigeria.
This is coming barely 24 hours to the expiration of the ultimatum on Wednesday (tomorrow).
Investigation by our correspondent on Monday revealed that foreign airlines, including BA, Virgin Atlantic, Airfrance-KLM and Lufthansa had yet to reduce their airfares.
Top officials of the airlines, who spoke under condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said they had not received any official letter from the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, asking them to reduce their airfares within the stipulated 30 days.
The representatives of the airlines, however, told our correspondent that reducing their airfares would not be in the interest of the passengers.
“We have not received any correspondence or letter from the Ministry of Aviation about any 30-day ultimatum. They have not given any foreign airline any letter. Since we have not received any letter from the ministry, we don’t have any reaction. Let the ultimatum come and let them stop all the foreign airlines from operating into Nigeria,” a top official of one of the foreign airlines said.
However, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Joseph Obi, said the government would not shift ground on the ultimatum.
He said some of the airlines had been negotiating with the government and expressed the hope that the issue would be resolved amicably.
Obi said, “As we speak, the 30-day ultimatum still stands. The 30-day ultimatum expires on Wednesday. We are hoping that the airlines will comply and that we won’t get to a situation where the government will have to wield the big stick.
“Some of the airlines have been negotiating with the Federal Government. We hope that the matter will be resolved between the parties.”
Aviation industry observers in Nigeria, United Kingdom and other parts of the world are anxiously watching to see if the Federal Government will reverse itself on the ultimatum.
The Aviation minister had accused foreign airlines, especially BA and Virgin Atlantic, of charging higher fares on Nigerian routes compared to what they charge in neighbouring countries for similar flights.
Oduah said the development had created regional imbalance in fare pricing, noting that airfares in Ghana were significantly cheaper than in Nigeria.
She said the airlines needed to “dismantle the imbalance” by reducing their fares or risked being banned from operating in the country.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Department of Transportation will in May release a detailed report on airfares charged by British and Nigerian airlines on the Nigeria-UK route.
A source familiar with the development told our correspondent that UK officials had told the Federal Government officials that the report would be ready in May.
The report, the source said, was part of the agreement reached by officials of the aviation ministry and their UK DOT counterparts when they held discussions about the fares dispute and the Bilateral Air Services Agreement in February this year.
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