As air transport activities resumed on the UAE-Nigeria route with the return of Emirates to the country on October 2, as against the earlier date of October 1, stakeholders have expressed air of unease following the uncleared status of Air Peace as the only Nigerian carrier operating on the route.
Prior to the suspension of flights by Emirates to Nigeria in 2022, both the UAE carrier and Air Peace were operating into each other’s terrain in line with air traffic agreement existing between the two countries which allowed at least three carriers to operate from each side.
Before things fell apart between Nigeria and the UAE, key players had faulted the lopsidedness in the agreement, which, at a point saw Emirates and Etihad enjoying multiple entry points to Nigeria while the only Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, reciprocating on Nigerian side was not only limited to Sharjah Airport as against the Dubai main airport, but confronted with unnecessary bottlenecks.
As at the time Emirates willingly suspended operations into Nigeria, there was no basis for forcing the Nigerian carrier out of the route, but out of sheer international aero politics, the UAE authorities decided to stop Air Peace from continuing to operate on the route.
However, with the return of Emirates on Wednesday, stakeholders are of the opinion that the hitherto air transport imbalance between the two countries may continue as nothing concrete is coming from both sides to indicate the fate of the Nigerian carrier on when to resume flights into the UAE.
Many key players are asking questions on whether the diplomatic discussions that took place between officials of the two countries took into consideration the fate of the Nigerian carrier as it regards its resumption on the route.
Again, questions are being asked about whether the Nigerian government was able to resolve the issue of making it easy for Nigerian Air Peace travellers to have access to visas and other travel contains in view of the present cumbersome conditions attached to obtaining the UAE visas.
The present visa conditions recently rolled out showed that the UAE High Commissions would only grant visas to persons of certain ages, marital status and social standing in the society, which may hinder Air Peace on the premise that the UAE authorities is determined to drastically prune down the number of Nigerians willing to travel to Dubai who are majorly Air Peace managers.
Stakeholders who commented on the dicey situation are of the opinion that the return of Air Peace to the route may not be immediate despite the red carpet rolled out for Emirates by the Nigerian government as nothing otherwise points to the fact.
The key players are, however, optimistic that Air Peace would return to Dubai when all arrangements are concluded and as soon as all logistics have been put in place.
