Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo said on Wednesday that Emirates is working towards codeshare agreements with several Nigerian airlines.
Keyamo made the disclosure shortly after a joint meeting with Emirates officials upon his arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
A codeshare is an interline partnership in which one airline sells a service and places its code on another airline’s flights. This gives carriers the opportunity to serve destinations that are not in their route structure.
Under a “codeshare” arrangement, common in the international airline industry, the originating airline and supporting airline agree to share the cost of the ticket.
The Minister said that the Ministry of Aviation had secured several codeshare agreements for local airlines and that domestic airlines must have the right of first refusal during codeshare agreements. (UAE).
“There will be a lot of code sharing in this regard. As I speak to you, Emirates is currently in talks with a number of local airlines in the interest of the local airline industry. Masu.
“When Emirates Airline ceased operations, some airlines benefited from it. Many foreign airlines increased their flights to Nigeria and many airlines The company has increased its prices.
“We fought for this especially because Dubai is a major hub of the world. It connects virtually every country in the world. I have never seen a major country that does not have a relationship with Dubai. So Nigeria For human travelers, they can easily access anywhere in the world by simply traveling to Dubai and connecting to that country,” Keyamo said.
The minister said there will be more options for Nigerian travelers in the future, adding that when the Federal Government signs the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) with the UAE, it will also secure routes for local airlines. Ta.
“Our agreement with the UAE is that domestic airlines can fly to any destination in the UAE and vice versa.First of all, we now have a range of options. We know that there is currently increasing competition on various international routes and this is all about ensuring healthy competition and that will lead to competitive prices for the benefit of Nigerians.” said.
He thanked President Bola Tinubu for making recent developments in the aviation sector possible.
“When the President took office, he made it clear that he wanted to restore relationships with most of Nigeria’s key partners and businesses around the world. We identified the UAE as a key partner and business with which to restore relationships.
“Due to the suspension of visas and flights, relations have deteriorated. For Nigerians, this has been damaging because we know that Nigerians have invested a lot in the UAE. This is a fight for the people of Nigeria and I am sure they are happy that we have restored relations and signed a new BASA.
“We will redefine our relationship and make it healthier for the benefit of Nigerians. They also say they are coming back to stay. The suspension will feel the pain on both sides. They too They felt it, we felt it, and now they are back,” Keyamo said.
It was recalled that Emirates Airlines had been operating flights to Lagos and Abuja until September 30, 2022, but at the time the airline had suspended its operations due to the inability to repatriate backlogged funds amounting to more than $80 million.
The UAE also slammed the visa ban on Nigerians, with Air Peace and other airlines suspending flights from Nigeria to the UAE, effectively bringing flights between Nigeria and the UAE to a standstill.
Conflict resolution between Nigeria and the UAE was prioritized by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and promoted by Festus Keyamo.
UAE airlines will resume flights to Nigeria on October 1, May, after the federal government liquidated about $900 million in pent-up funds in foreign airlines and held a series of meetings with Emirates Airlines The plan was announced.
A Boeing 737-300ER landed at MMIA in Lagos on Tuesday, marking the return of Emirates Airlines to Nigeria.
