The Chairman of Air Peace Limited, Dr Allen Onyema has explained that the airline chose Gatwick Airport to operate its Lagos-London flight, which commences from March 30, 2024 because UK authorities refused to give the airline Heathrow.
Onyema, who
spoke on Arise TV on Sunday, explained that after the airline decided on
Gatwick it realised inherent benefits in choosing the airport, which include
the fact that many Nigerians live in that part of London and there is less
traffic in getting to Central London from Gatwick than from Heathrow.
He also said
that in accordance with the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) signed
between UK and Nigeria, Air Peace was supposed to be offered UK’s primary
airport, which is Heathrow, just as Nigeria offered its primary airports in
Lagos and Abuja to British airlines: British Airways and Virgin Atlantic
Airways.
But refusing to
do that, Air Peace chose Gatwick and realised it could be beneficial to the
airline’s operation, noting that it would be easier for the airline’s Nigerian
passengers to get to their destinations from the airport and also to connect to
other parts of the UK.
“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, I refused. I wanted to go to
Heathrow, which is their primary airport.
“But after some time 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.
“Many of our people live down South East part of London and
there is heavy traffic into Central London from Heathrow, but at Gatwick, they
allotted Southern terminal to Air Peace and when you get to 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 tube, you have
access to national rail and you have access to road transport to other parts of
UK. So, Gatwick has turned out to even be better for us. That’s why we took
Gatwick,” Dr Onyema said.