Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The United Kingdom, UK, Government, has formally replied the Federal Government of Nigeria, giving reasons for denying Nigeria’s flag carrier, Air Peace, landing slots at UK’s number one airport, the Heathrow Airport.
According to UK, the late submission of Air Peace’s letter of request for access to the Heathrow Airport, was the reason for the denial.
The explanation was contained in a letter by the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, which was in response to Nigeria’s earlier petition seeking clarifications.
According to Haigh, Air Peace submitted its requests for slots too late for both the Summer 2024 and Winter 2024/2025 seasons.
In the letter addressed to Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, Haigh explained that Air Peace’s request was received after the Airports Coordination Limited, ACL, had already completed the slot coordination process for the summer season.
Outlining the options available to Air Peace, Haigh stated that the airline could either join the waitlist, operate from another airport, or acquire slots through slot trading and commercial arrangements with other carriers.
The letter reads in part: “We encourage Air Peace to continue to liaise with Airports Coordination Limited, ACL, on the process for acquiring ad-hoc and historic slots at the UK’s coordinated airports.
“ACL reports that Air Peace sent late requests for slots for the Summer 2024 season and the Winter 2024/2025 season; their requests were received after the slot coordination process had concluded for each season.
“Carriers can ensure they are in the best position to receive any available slots by following the correct processes.
“As you may be aware, Heathrow Airport is constrained by runway capacity and an Air Traffic Movement limit, which places downward pressure on the number of slots available in any operating season.
“For example, for the Summer 2024 season, a total of 290,580 slots were available, but the number of slots requested reached 319,721.
“This left 29,141 unfulfilled slot requests, which were placed on a waitlist to potentially receive slots returned to the pool.
“Gatwick Airport, the second busiest in the UK, offers many connections to Europe, Asia, and North America. It benefits from a direct, mainline rail connection to central London with comparable travel times to other London airports.
“Several carriers from different nations have developed substantial and successful operations at Gatwick Airport. The Department understands the position this puts new entrant carriers in.
“ACL advises that carriers have three options in this scenario: join the waitlist, operate from another airport as Air Peace has done, or acquire slots through slot trading and commercial arrangements with other carriers.”
Recall that Keyamo had written a diplomatic letter to the UK aviation authorities requesting landing slots for Air Peace at Heathrow, the preferred airport for many international airlines operating in the UK.
Air Peace has made in-roads into the global aviation space as it now makes direct flights from Nigeria to some major Airports in the world.
