The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Wednesday announced the upcoming codeshare agreements between Emirates and several Nigerian airlines.
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.
On the other hand, in “codeshare” arrangements, common in the international airline industry, the originating airline and the supporting airline agree to share the cost of the ticket.
Keyamo disclosed this shortly after a joint meeting with Emirates officials upon his arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
He told reporters that his ministry has secured several codeshare agreements for local airlines and that domestic airlines must have the right of first refusal during the period of the codeshare agreement. He said he had reached an agreement with the federation.
“There will be a lot of code sharing in this regard. As I speak to you, Emirates is currently in discussions with a number of local airlines in the interest of the local aviation industry.” he said.
Keyamo further added, “When Emirates grounded its operations, some airlines benefited from it. Many foreign airlines increased their flights to Nigeria, with no seats or flights available. As a result, many airlines have increased their 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.”
The minister added that there will be more options for Nigerian travelers, asserting that when the Federal Government signs a bilateral air services agreement with the UAE, it will also secure routes for local airlines.
“Our agreement with the UAE is that domestic airlines can fly to any destination within the UAE and vice versa. First of all, we currently have a variety of options. We know that there is currently increased competition on various international routes. This is all about ensuring healthy competition, which will lead to competitive prices for the benefit of Nigerians.” said.
