……Urges Nigerians To Embrace Broad Nationalism For Rapid Development
The Chairman of Air Peace, Dr Allen Onyema has revealed that the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA)Nigeria and the United Kingdom is for both country’s carriers to loperate into each other’s primary airports.
This is just as he disclosed that the airline’s choice was not originally Gatwick Airport but that the carrier decided to settle for Gatwick to assist Nigerians ,who according to him were paying high fares and also considering the potential benefits operating into the airport .
Onyema disclosed this while speaking in an interview on Arise Television yesterday. ahead the commencement of the airline’s Lagos–London route on March 30, 2024.
“The BASA we signed with the UK is this: you give me your primary airport; we give you our primary airport. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways come to our country using our primary airports, Lagos and Abuja. When we applied, they told us Heathrow was not available to us and they were even suggesting London Stansted Airport or Luton. They also suggested Gatwick, but I refused. I wanted to go to Heathrow, which is their primary airport.”
“But after sometime we said okay, as Nigerians are groaning under the weight of high fares; we decided even if it is Scotland; we would go. So, we decided to take Gatwick. Gatwick was not really our choice but in the long run we decided to see some goods in choosing Gatwick.”
Onyema contended that many Nigerians live down South East part of London and there is heavy traffic into Central London from Heathrow, but that at Gatwick, the UK authority allotted Southern terminal to Air Peace.
According to him, “When you get to the South terminal, you get out of immigration, take your luggage, you walk into the Gatwick express train within three minutes and that will take you to Victoria, right into Central London. From the South Terminal you have access to the tube, you have access to national rail and you have access to road transport to other parts of the UK. So, Gatwick has turned out to even be better for us. That’s why we took Gatwick.”
Meanwhile, Onyema, has urged Nigerians to shun ethnic and religious nationalism and embrace broad nationalism to spur up the development of the country.
Onyema, who made the call recently, during Air Peace’s engagement session with travel agents preparatory to the launch of its London service, stressed the need for Nigerians to leverage their diversity for driving the needed economic transformation in the country, instead of the diversity being a bane.
Citing how his patriotic zeal propelled him to champion the campaign that led to the resolution of Niger Delta militancy and consequently the birth of Amnesty Programme, the Air Peace boss said Nigerians need to show more patriotism and become more united to tackle the many challenges facing the country.
He stated that the challenges of the nation should not be left for the government alone, adding that everyone has a part to play to get Nigeria out of the economic doldrums.
Onyema urged Nigerians to support the government in its efforts to improve the economy.
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