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Nigeria has changed its agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) to the Open Skies agreement tailored towards Nigeria’s agreement with the United States of America.
The ‘Open Skies’ deal allows countries to designate multiple airlines to each other’s territories and no any destinations they choose while BASA is restrictive to some frequencies and destinations.
Aside from that, the agreement stipulates that: “There shall be no restriction on the capacity and the number of frequencies and type(s) of aircraft to be operated by the designated airlines of both contracting parties in any type of service (passenger, cargo, separately or in combination).
“Each designated airline is permitted to determine the frequency, and capacity it offers on the agreed services.” The deal also stipulates that neither contracting party shall unilaterally limit the volume of traffic, frequencies, regularity of service or the aircraft type(s) operated by the designated airlines of the other contracting party, except as may be required for customs, technical, operational or environmental requirements under uniform conditions consistent with Article 16 of the Convention.
This agreement is contained in a document referred to as: “Protocol amending the air service agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates relating to air services between and beyond their respective territories.”
However, according to experts the agreement shows that Nigeria holds the short end of the stick and one that has firmly put the UAE carriers at an advantage over Nigerian carriers that cannot compete with Emirates not to mention other big carriers like Etihad and others.
According to them, Nigeria has inadvertently or deliberately ceded the market to the UAE carriers at the expense of the local airlines.
“They granted five airlines flight rights and fifth freedom meaning that they can fly to any destination and with so many frequencies. It is like signing an ‘Open Skies’ with UAE. That is what it means. It is not different from ‘Open Skies’; it is just that they did not call it ‘Open Skies’.
You sign an Open Skies when you can’t reciprocate,” some stakeholders lamented. Delegations representing the Nigerian government and the government of the United Arab met in Dubai on September 30, 2024, to further discuss the strengthening of the bilateral air transport relations and the enhancement of the existing Air Services Agreement (ASA) signed by the two governments on December 7, 2017.
A copy of the agreed minutes for the agreement made available to New Telegraph stated that the delegation of the UAE re-confirmed their designation of Etihad Airways, Emirates, Air Arabia, flydubai, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Wizz Air Abu Dhbabi as designated airlines of the UAE.
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