Slot Row: We’re not in position to exchange correspondence with UAE government – Air Peace tells Neusroom
Nigeria’s flag carrier Air Peace has said it is not in any position to exchange correspondence with the government of the United Arab Emirates on the diplomatic row between Nigeria and UAE over slot availability.
Stanley Oliseh, the airline’s spokesperson, told Neusroom in his reaction to a letter circulating on the internet, which was addressed to the CEO of Air Peace Allen Onyema by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.
The letter, dated December 13, 2021, said the UAE government had conceded seven flight slots to Air Peace to fly into Dubai.
Oliseh, however, confirmed to Neusroom on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, that he had seen the letter in circulation, but “I’m not aware we (Air Peace) have received the letter.”
In the last 10 months, the Nigerian and UAE government have been at loggerheads over flight operations between the two countries. The diplomatic row led Emirates airline to suspend flights to Nigeria in March 2021 before the suspension was lifted in November.
Less than two weeks after Emirates resumed Lagos and Abuja flights, the airline announced that it is suspending all flights to Nigeria from Monday, December 13, 2021, until the fresh diplomatic row over the withdrawal of all but one of its flight frequencies to Nigeria is resolved.
The UAE government said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s action to limit Emirates’ flights to once weekly after initially approving 21 was unjustifiable.
The Nigerian government slashed the airline’s 21 weekly services to one after Air Peace was awarded one of three requested frequencies to Sharjah airport, citing the unavailability of slots.
Barely three days after announcing the suspension of flights, a letter addressed to Onyema emerged informing the Air Peace CEO that the UAE government has reviewed its request and allotted seven slots to the Nigerian airline to fly to Dubai.
But Air Peace said it can not exchange correspondence with the UAE government because “the issue is between the Nigerian government and UAE.”
“If the UAE government is going to write a letter, it should go through the proper diplomatic channels. We’ve not been the one exchanging letters with the UAE government; it’s been the Nigerian government through the Ministry of aviation.”
Oliseh said he could not give details on the letter because Air Peace is yet to receive it officially.
UAE is a leading business and tourism destination for many Nigerians. In February 2020, the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Fahad Al Taffaq, said that going by the 2018 figures, the volume of non-oil trade between the UAE and Nigeria stood at $1.5 billion.
He added that “the number of Nigerians that visit the UAE annually, especially Dubai, is around 100,000. Some of them for tourism and some others for conventional tourism, for example, medical tourism and so forth.”
Some tourism experts said it is more than that.
Stella Fubara Obinwa, Regional Director for Africa, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), said Nigerians accounted for about 127,000 overnight visitors to UAE in 2015. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reports that 185,000 Nigerians visited Dubai in 2018.
