Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) have again called for the restriction of foreign airlines designated to Nigeria into either Lagos or Abuja and one other secondary point of entrance as the current multiple designation is affecting the nation and its airlines growth.
This was another submission from the 39-point communique issued at the end of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) Quarter 2, 2023 Brunch Business Meeting with the theme: Aviation Reset: Agenda For The New Administration.
The ASRTI through the Communique also said that to protect the interest of Nigeria and her airlines, there is a need to review existing Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) with the commercial agreements and enforce the reciprocity principle in international agreement.
The Communique in part read, “Foreign airlines’ designated to fly into Nigeria should be restricted to either Lagos or Abuja and a secondary entry point.
“The current system of multiple entry destinations should be discontinued to enhance the drive towards regional hub creation while the government should ensure the foreign airlines timely home remittance to avail their inventories, lower tariffs, and increase traffic.
The industry think tank group speaking on protection of Nigerian airlines posited,”In order to protect the interest of Nigeria and her airlines, there is a need to review existing BASAs with the commercial agreements and enforce the reciprocity principle in international agreement.
“Deliberate efforts should be made to secure government support for local airline operators particularly in BASA implementation to enable them to attain their full potential.
Equally it enjoined the airlines, with the coming of the Single African Air Transport Market ( SAATM) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), to have some form of collaboration to enable the country to benefit immensely from this.
The communique read, “Nigerian airlines should be encouraged to collaborate, cooperate or merge and the government shall encourage investment in the aviation sector to create at least two to three strong flag carriers in order for Nigeria to take advantage offered by the SAATM and AfCFTA Agreements. That National Carrier ideology is sunset and replaced with flag carriers for a huge economy like Nigeria.
“It has been projected that the entire African continent will become one large domestic market under SAATM, it is essential that the government takes active steps to ensure that the Nigerian economy benefits from this regime by encouraging the rapid growth of the Nigerian aviation industry to take advantage of the economic benefits in the future.
