The entry of Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace into the lucrative London route, has sparked price war among foreign airlines which have severally reduced their airfares to compete effectively with the Nigerian airline.
This emerged just as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, yesterday, thanked Gatwick Airport, London management for welcoming Air Peace, which started flight service to the airport on March 30, 2024.
Air Peace started direct flights from Lagos to London on March 30, pegging its price for a round-trip economy ticket at N1.2 million on a route that foreign airlines used to charge as much as N3 million.
This prompted the foreign airlines to cut their airfares to an average of N1.4 million for a round-trip economy ticket last week. But checks yesterday showed that some foreign airlines have further slashed their prices to an average of N841,732.
Checks by THISDAY showed that prices by most of the flights have dropped significantly.
For instance, Egyptair has dropped its Lagos-London economy ticket price further to ($470) N585,620; Air Peace London to Lagos now goes for ($655) N816, 130; British Airways goes for ($787.99) N981, 848; Virgin Atlantic ($927.99) N1.1 million and Royal Air Moroc ($456.99) N569,422.
Also, RwandAir has pegged its airfare to London at ($545.35) N679,070; Ethiopian Air ($543.84) -N677, 824; Turkish Airlines ($647.84) – N807, 408; Air France London ($915.99) -N1.1 million, while KLM pegged its price to ($927.84) – N1.1 million.
Comparing the current air fares to the cost of flight tickets last week, before the entrant of Air Peace to the London market showed that a one-way economy class ticket from Lagos to London on British Airways used to cost N3 million for Economy and N11 million for Business Class, which has since dropped to N1.7 million for economy and N6.8million for Business Class respectively.
On Lufthansa, a one-way Economy class ticket from Lagos to London which also cost about N3 million and N9 million for Business class was later put at N2 million for economy class and N7 million for Business Class respectively.
On Virgin Atlantic, the same destination which used to cost about N2 million for Economy, N5 million for Economy Premium and N12 million for Business Class now cost N1.5 million for Economy, N3 million for Premuim and N6 million for Business Class.
These indicated that since Air Peace joined the Lagos-London route, foreign airlines have reviewed their fares downwards severally and as the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Dr Allen Onyema said in an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, the London-Lagos route is no more lucrative because the airlines are slashing their prices to drive the Nigerian carrier out of the market.
“The same strategy is being employed right now by some of the foreign airlines to drop the price so that people will now leave Air Peace and go to those foreign airlines.
“Of course, it is a very devilish conspiracy. All of a sudden, other airlines are underpricing; that is below the cost of operation
“One other airline was advertising $100, one $350. If you fill up the entire aircraft and carry people on the wings, it is not even enough to buy your fuel, so why are they doing that?
“Their governments are supporting them because Nigeria has been a cash cow for everybody. Their governments are supporting them to do this and take Air Peace out.
“The idea is to take Air Peace out and the moment they succeed in taking air peace out, Nigerians will pay 20 times over and it’s going to happen if, God forbid, they’re able to take Air Peace out because what is happening now is scary and of course, even at Gatwick where you are, are you given 100 per cent corporation?
“Let me tell you this, on the first day of the inaugural flight out of london, 24 hours to the time, they moved us to another checking area other than the place assigned to us. The place they gave us the carousel was not working so when you check-in people, you need to manually carry the load to some 50 meters away to go and drop it somewhere else just to delay you.
“No other airline faces that. If they take out Air Peace prematurely, this country will pay dearly for it 10 times over quote me, billions will be lost and there will be another heavy strain on the naira,” Onyema said.
Reacting to this development, former Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Benedict Adeyileka, told THISDAY that price war was on among foreign airlines on the Lagos-London route, adding that the plan was to drive out Air Peace from the market and then they increase airfares by 300 per cent.
He said before Air Peace entered into the market, foreign airlines were ripping off Nigerians with outrageous fares, making Nigeria their most profitable route because they charge very high fares that are almost double what they charge for London-Johannesburg route that is three hours longer than Lagos-London, which is about six hours.
Adeyileka, regretted that the Nigerian government allowed foreign airline to operate cabotage service, whereby they carry passengers from one Nigerian airport to another Nigerian airport, against what is in the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) and what those countries that own the airlines will never allow Nigerian carriers to do in their airports.
“Foreign airlines are crashing their prices because they want to bring Air Peace down. Nigeria has become very lucrative to these airlines because government allowed some of them, including Ethiopian, Turkish, Qatar, Lufthansa to practice cabotage, taking passengers from one of our airports to another of our airports, which is unacceptable. I can say it anywhere; they cannot do this without the connivance of Nigerians.
“They have been enjoying monopoly on the Nigerian route; but now a Nigerian carrier joined the market they want to drive it out with price war.
“If they succeed within 48 hours the airlines will more than double the prices. They will increase the fares by 300 per cent. Let then continue to bring down the prices, it is good for Nigeria,” Adeyileka said.
According to him, what would save Nigerian carriers was patriotism as well as government support, noting that when he worked in UK, the UK- owned airlines were not buying aviation fuel at the same cost as foreign airlines and they were not paying the same airport charges as foreign airlines and urged the Nigerian government to find ways to support Nigerian carriers.
He added: “If we want the naira to continue to gain value and also to reduce the demand on the dollar, government should encourage local carriers where passengers can buy their ticket in naira and the airline will not repatriate its earnings through forex out of the country.”
Keyamo Commends Gatwick Airport for Welcoming Nigerian Carrier, Air Peace
Meanwhile, Keyamo has thanked Gatwick Airport, London management for welcoming Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, which started flight service to the airport on March 30, 2024.
In his verified X (twitter) handle, @fkeyamo, the Minister acknowledged the message from Gatwick Airport authority, saying the message issued one week after the airline’s inaugural flight to the airport was belated but accepted, adding that the federal government was fully in support of its airlines.
“Finally! Thank you Gatwick Airport. We expected this (welcome message) on the first day of the arrival of one of our most important local airlines, Air Peace.
“But better late than never. We look forward to working with you to ensure seamless operation by Air Peace from your airport. The government of Nigeria fully supports our local operators,” the Minister said.
London Gatwick airport, @Gatwick_Airport, had welcomed the Nigerian carrier, saying, “Excited news! We recently welcomed Nigerian carrier @flyairpeace to the London Gatwick family, flying daily to Lagos.
“Perfect for reconnecting with friends and loved ones or for business travellers, embark on your next journey from London Gatwick to Lagos with Air Peace.”
According to information from the airport’s website, Gatwick Airport is managed by Gatwick Airport Limited, but since May 2019, VINCI Airports have been the majority shareholder and the rest of the shares are owned by a group of investors.
VINCI Airports is the world’s leading private airport operator. They have welcomed 240 million passengers per year, including 46 million at London Gatwick. They also operate the world’s largest and most diversenetwork, with 65 airports in 12 countries.
