Posted by By Tunji Oketunbi and Wole Shadare on
THE Federal Government has designated two additional Nigerian airlines to the United States of America just as two U.S. airlines.....
THE Federal Government has designated two additional Nigerian airlines to the United States of America just as two U.S. airlines: Delta and Continental Airways are to start operations in Nigeria soon.
Designated are Bellview Airlines, which will fly to Newark, New Jersey and Arik Air, a start up carrier, which has approval to fly to Atlanta in addition to designation to the United Kingdom.
Also designated is Aero Contractors, which got some regional designations in addition to Malabo and Accra it is currently operating into.
Sources close to the domestic carriers confirmed the designation but would not give details.
Industry sources however disclosed that Arik Air was given provisional approval to fly to a small airport outside London to join Virgin Nigeria as Nigeria's second carrier to the UK.
Nigeria has dual designation pact with Britain, which permits two airlines from both countries to operate the routes between them.
The government has however reserved some lucrative routes, including London, New York, Dubai, Johannesburg and Amsterdam to Virgin Nigeria.
The designation of new airlines to the U.S. and UK indicates a new move by the government to break Virgin Nigeria's monopoly on the lucrative routes and create the opportunity for the country to get maximum benefits from them.
Arik Air, which bought former Nigeria Airways head office and is yet to commence even domestic operations may however face opposition from the industry for being favoured by government over other airlines.
Delta and Continental will join North American Airlines, which began non-stop flights into Nigeria two weeks ago.
A date is yet to be fixed for the airlines to start their operations in the country. But a senior official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), who confirmed the development to reporters yesterday, said his organisation was working towards allotting slots to the new carriers.
North American Airlines (NAA) started flight operations into Lagos on July 17 with three flights per week from New York Airport to Lagos Airport.
Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) signed an Open Skies Agreement, which allows unlimited number of carriers from both countries to operate unlimited number of flights into each other's airspace.
Part of the agreement stated that each party should have the right to designate as many airlines as it wishes to conduct international air transportation or to withdraw or alter such designations. It however, requires that the designated airlines meet the conditions prescribed under the laws and regulations of international air transportation by each party considering the applications of the airlines.