December 11, (THEWILL) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reached out to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to lament the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) action against the Emirates Airlines.
The UAE argue that the NCAA’s decision to limit Emirates’ flights to once a week go against the spirit of the air services arrangement between the two nations, and asked the Nigerian authorities to reverse the decision.
In a letter, Ref: GCAA/C/29-21, addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on December 10, 2021, and titled “Air Transport Relations,” the GCAA stressed that the ban on the Emirates is unfair as the current impasse is operational and between Air Peace and Sharjah Airport.
The letter, signed by Minister of Economy, Chairman of GCAA Board, Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, read in part: “GCAA has the honour to highlight that such a decision by the NCAA is totally unjustified especially as it has come to our attention that their action is being taken against the background of Air Peace not securing 3 slots at Sharjah Airport which they desire.”
“Air Peace initially operated at Sharjah Airport, shifted to Dubai Airport, and then returned to Sharjah Airport. It would be unreasonable for an airline to expect any airport to maintain their slots when they ceased operating at that airport.
“In this regard, we wish to kindly advise you that Sharjah Airport is currently operating at 140% slot capacity but with goodwill and tremendous effort on their side, this airport was able to accommodate Air Peace with one out of the three slots that this airline requested.”
NCAA restricted the Emirates Airline’s flights from United Arab Emirates (UAE) to just one into Abuja, from 21, from December 12, 2021, because Air Peace which operates to Sharjah was granted only one frequency when it requested three.
The regulatory agency gave the clarification following another misunderstanding into an already fractured relationship between Nigeria and the UAE. It stated that the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between both nations is based on the principle of reciprocity for transparency and fairness between both sides.
The GCAA official in his letter acknowledged this view but stressed that,”…that the action of NCAA is obviously not in line with the spirit of the agreed air services arrangement between our two nations”.
It said,” This is a purely operational matter between Air Peace and Sharjah Airport and in any case, it should not have any implication on Emirates.
“We suggest that APL should consider flying their other two flights to any UAE airport at which there are available slots. As expected the GCAA will support APL in this activity where required”.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
