Nigerian Govt Slashes British Airways's flights to Lagos
Oh menatti don't let fact get in the way of his ranting 
It would be very wrong if Arik were to get slots just because they play the 'race' card. There are many other airlines who would love prime Heathrow slots but cannot afford to lease or buy them so they operate at non peak times and make the best of it, or operate from Gatwick.
It has nothing to do with race, it is to do with Heathrow being full. Why should carriers who have the peak slots and who have built up good business have to give them up and either pull off the route or go off peak just because another carrier wants to start up to LHR.
Birmingham is only a little way up the M6 Arik could operate from there and get an onward route to India from Lagos and start to develop Lagos as a hub.
It would be very wrong if Arik were to get slots just because they play the 'race' card. There are many other airlines who would love prime Heathrow slots but cannot afford to lease or buy them so they operate at non peak times and make the best of it, or operate from Gatwick.
It has nothing to do with race, it is to do with Heathrow being full. Why should carriers who have the peak slots and who have built up good business have to give them up and either pull off the route or go off peak just because another carrier wants to start up to LHR.
Birmingham is only a little way up the M6 Arik could operate from there and get an onward route to India from Lagos and start to develop Lagos as a hub.
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Too bl00dy right.................. Coming over to Blighty and sponging and having kids (family friend was midwife in Redhill General - said place was full of Nigerian women coming over to give birth so brats could get Brit passports!).
It's obviously NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT is it?
It's obviously NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT is it?
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Its not as those the threat of BA having reduced ops means they flock to Arik, under 100 pax 3 days in a row out of LOS on a A345.
I'm not sure what the issue is if you're offered 5 pairs of slots at £90k a month, din't Continental pay $30m for a pair a few years back when prices were mad ? bmi slots are valued at £400m in the sale agreement with IAG.
Is the case Arik want to be given the best slots free so they can sell them or bump up their balance sheet ?
I'm not sure what the issue is if you're offered 5 pairs of slots at £90k a month, din't Continental pay $30m for a pair a few years back when prices were mad ? bmi slots are valued at £400m in the sale agreement with IAG.
Is the case Arik want to be given the best slots free so they can sell them or bump up their balance sheet ?
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Memories...
My very first flight to Lagos, and Nigeria started for me in Frankfurt at Lufthansa check-in with this rather large and noisy Nigerian remonstrating that a child's tricycle was too a carry-on item! Well, he did have a point, in that one could literally carry it on; if there was nowhere to stow it, should that be his problem?
In the same vein, did not the racist, colonialist British government agree that Nigerian airlines could operate a certain number of flights to the UK? Well, that implies some obligation on their part to cause this to happen, I think, with whatever it takes. Provide nice Mr Johnson with slots at times of his choosing and at a price he likes, at Heathrow, or else!
We are always being told about that other fellow, Michael O'Leary and his innovative approach to the airline business, coin-operated toilets and now in-flight access to pornography. Perhaps Mr Johnson decided to try to top MOL with this latest wheeze?
How long do you guys give this one before Arik and Nigeria find some way to do a face-saving climb-down and capitulate to reality? A lot of those now forced to sit around waiting for connecting flights at Heathrow must be Nigerians, or does their government think that their time is worth nothing?
In the same vein, did not the racist, colonialist British government agree that Nigerian airlines could operate a certain number of flights to the UK? Well, that implies some obligation on their part to cause this to happen, I think, with whatever it takes. Provide nice Mr Johnson with slots at times of his choosing and at a price he likes, at Heathrow, or else!
We are always being told about that other fellow, Michael O'Leary and his innovative approach to the airline business, coin-operated toilets and now in-flight access to pornography. Perhaps Mr Johnson decided to try to top MOL with this latest wheeze?
How long do you guys give this one before Arik and Nigeria find some way to do a face-saving climb-down and capitulate to reality? A lot of those now forced to sit around waiting for connecting flights at Heathrow must be Nigerians, or does their government think that their time is worth nothing?
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This is a political issue. I can all but guarantee the outcome will anger alot of folks as a result. I would love to be a fly on the wall in these discussions between both govt's but I will have to settle with simply waiting till the next deadline to see what happens next. 
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Not only does FG want to cut routes but change flight times so BA, Virgin and Emirates of Africa take and land at approx same time, can't wait to see those pax waiting for bags at those carousels
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Too bl00dy right.................. Coming over to Blighty and sponging and having kids (family friend was midwife in Redhill General - said place was full of Nigerian women coming over to give birth so brats could get Brit passports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!).
Go on mods. Delete this!!!!!! It's obviously NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT is it????
Go on mods. Delete this!!!!!! It's obviously NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT is it????
The British Nationality Act 1981 lays down eligibility for British nationality, which is very different for the rules in USA
UK Border Agency | Children born in the United Kingdom
Now let's get back to the business of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement and LHR slots rather than having another irrelevant tirade against Nigerians
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It does not matter
simply put... the 2 companies do not even compare. Arik is a horribly mismanaged misguided tuk tuk business. Rampant corruption and bias plague the entire airline. The product is garbage and the customer sees' that.
Nigerian's "in the know," know that arik is a crap product driven by nothing but disgruntled unenthused and an many cases unqualified labor. The airplanes have not been cleaned since acquistion...the lavaratory's do not even have soap inside them. The inflight entertainment is a failure, the food is disgustingly awful and the serivce is lacking. The only stitch holding arik together comes at the hands of Lufthansa (contracts.)
The company...founded as the "emirates of africa" based purely off of customer service has become exactly the opposite.
Ariks ABV-LHR routes have failed to generate interest nor have they been properly placed on a Global Pay platform or Commercial pricing relevance. Secondly the service from ABV was being offered on a 737-8 with an all arik crew. This differs from the LOS-LHR which utilises the A340-5 with service provided at the hands of Hi-FLY (Portugal.) a contracted third party with professional crew.
Arik's Operations Control pales in comparison to any credible airline...leaving in its wake lengthy delays, crew rostering failures, aircraft swaps and totally inexcusable failures. It is purely a complete and unreliable product.
It has to be embarassing for anyone flying the nigerian flag in conversation to use the name of "arik" as your spokesman for your nation? Arik is purely trying trying find any press and any simpathetic recourse on behalf of the nigerian government and nigerian people. DO NOT BE SO FOOLISH to think this is about you.
BA has given half a century of quality service to Nigeria. Yet now, because Arik say's so.... BA is bad for Nigeria?????
Nigerian's "in the know," know that arik is a crap product driven by nothing but disgruntled unenthused and an many cases unqualified labor. The airplanes have not been cleaned since acquistion...the lavaratory's do not even have soap inside them. The inflight entertainment is a failure, the food is disgustingly awful and the serivce is lacking. The only stitch holding arik together comes at the hands of Lufthansa (contracts.)
The company...founded as the "emirates of africa" based purely off of customer service has become exactly the opposite.
Ariks ABV-LHR routes have failed to generate interest nor have they been properly placed on a Global Pay platform or Commercial pricing relevance. Secondly the service from ABV was being offered on a 737-8 with an all arik crew. This differs from the LOS-LHR which utilises the A340-5 with service provided at the hands of Hi-FLY (Portugal.) a contracted third party with professional crew.
Arik's Operations Control pales in comparison to any credible airline...leaving in its wake lengthy delays, crew rostering failures, aircraft swaps and totally inexcusable failures. It is purely a complete and unreliable product.
It has to be embarassing for anyone flying the nigerian flag in conversation to use the name of "arik" as your spokesman for your nation? Arik is purely trying trying find any press and any simpathetic recourse on behalf of the nigerian government and nigerian people. DO NOT BE SO FOOLISH to think this is about you.
BA has given half a century of quality service to Nigeria. Yet now, because Arik say's so.... BA is bad for Nigeria?????
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Trade by barter is the only way out
Bluejuice and others who have spoken against the measures taken by the Nigerian Goverment against BA, i quite agree with you that Arik is the complete opposite of BA in virtually every comparism. But i want to state here that it all appears to be about international politics and state interests. There is no where in the BASA that states or even mentions any word about slots into particular airports. The docus only states how each state will access each others markets with reciprocity. BA knows this very well, and cleverly goes ahead to device a means of obstructing this agreement in the name of slots and Grandfather's right. BA and the UK goverment know quite well that operating into LHR is a priceless asset for any foreign airline. On the other hand, the Nigerian goverment, Arik and other foreign Airlines equally know that the Lagos-London and Abuja-London routes are highly priced assets. So, now BA, ACL and BAA should negotiate their highly priced slots into LHR with access to Nigeria's highly priced market. There are no friends in politics or business, just interest. This is a case of you need to trade something to get something. This is the real world my friends.
I seem to remember Nigeria had some relatively good slots at LHR in years gone by, but because Nigeria Airways was such a corrupt and inefficient airline which the Nigerian Government aided and abetted in its role as owner of the airline, the airline eventually failed and with its failure away went the slots.
So lets not make this an argument about how badly BA is behaving. If the Nigerian Govt hadn't messed up its original national carrier, a Nigerian airline would be operating on good slots at LHR. BA and Virgin operate successful, reliable and commercially sound businesses so why should they be penalised?
Arik is no more worthy of prime slots than any of the other airlines who are waiting for them to become available. Either they pay for them or they shut up and make the best of what they have.
So lets not make this an argument about how badly BA is behaving. If the Nigerian Govt hadn't messed up its original national carrier, a Nigerian airline would be operating on good slots at LHR. BA and Virgin operate successful, reliable and commercially sound businesses so why should they be penalised?
Arik is no more worthy of prime slots than any of the other airlines who are waiting for them to become available. Either they pay for them or they shut up and make the best of what they have.
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Politics or no politics, if LOS-LHR is such a highly profitable route, what is 90000pounds/month to access it if arik has a highly competitive product.
As Surely not rightly said, if the Nigerian govt hadn't messed up WT thru corruption and inept administrators, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Methink it's a case of "we've found the enemy, it is us"
As Surely not rightly said, if the Nigerian govt hadn't messed up WT thru corruption and inept administrators, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Methink it's a case of "we've found the enemy, it is us"
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Trade something to get something...
What part of 'trade ninety thousand pounds for one month's access to LHR' is so hard to understand, then? This is not negotiating with the Rat Quench Man in an Airport Road go-slow, 'What is your last price, Ogah?" but the airline business as practiced by professionals, when 'if you want to pay then you have to play...' err, something like that anyway! (I am just a driver so don't ask me any tough questions.)
You have one airline that has been carefully built over decades (BA) and another started yesterday by a group of distinctly odd characters who seem to have had access to unusual sources of funding (Arik). Now it seems that the one is better-off than the other, so that the Nigerian government must step in to level the playing field. That must mean 'trading influence to get landing slots at LHR,' a neat trick if it can be pulled off.
How about the Nigerian government paying for the slots, 90 thousand quid per month to BMI or whoever has the slots that Arik needs?
(Wait, I need to get out my calculator... It's a scientific one, so that I can load in some variables, the sort that work in Nigerian airline management calculations, starting with an extra 10% and then rounding off upwards...)
12 x 90,000 GBP= 1,200,000 GBP, which is a mere snip.
So, how about it, Nigerian government? You have already been ripped off for... Oops, sorry, let me re-phrase that: You have already invested untold millions in Arik, so what is a measly 1.2 million more British pounds at this point? Perhaps this is all that stands between Arik and success!
You have one airline that has been carefully built over decades (BA) and another started yesterday by a group of distinctly odd characters who seem to have had access to unusual sources of funding (Arik). Now it seems that the one is better-off than the other, so that the Nigerian government must step in to level the playing field. That must mean 'trading influence to get landing slots at LHR,' a neat trick if it can be pulled off.
How about the Nigerian government paying for the slots, 90 thousand quid per month to BMI or whoever has the slots that Arik needs?
(Wait, I need to get out my calculator... It's a scientific one, so that I can load in some variables, the sort that work in Nigerian airline management calculations, starting with an extra 10% and then rounding off upwards...)
12 x 90,000 GBP= 1,200,000 GBP, which is a mere snip.
So, how about it, Nigerian government? You have already been ripped off for... Oops, sorry, let me re-phrase that: You have already invested untold millions in Arik, so what is a measly 1.2 million more British pounds at this point? Perhaps this is all that stands between Arik and success!
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BA has been providing quality aviation services to Nigeria for decades and these ungrateful people are making life difficult for this fantastic One world carrier. I wish to see BA would close their Abuja and Lagos routes and let's watch these Nigerian passengers suffer...
A crude game of hard-ball is in play between blindfolded whimps and hypocritical demons, tomorrow we'll see who blinks first.
A crude game of hard-ball is in play between blindfolded whimps and hypocritical demons, tomorrow we'll see who blinks first.
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Not about quality of service but reciprocity
DRPAM007,
Lots and tons of sentiments there again. If its about BA providing quality service to Nigeria since the time of Adam & Eve, then i'll say BA is right. But its not about that but all about fairness, equity and keeping to a gentleman sorry gentlecountry agreement freely entered into. The UK goverment please do what is agreed in the BASA and leave Arik to its faith of doom brought about by mismanagement
Lots and tons of sentiments there again. If its about BA providing quality service to Nigeria since the time of Adam & Eve, then i'll say BA is right. But its not about that but all about fairness, equity and keeping to a gentleman sorry gentlecountry agreement freely entered into. The UK goverment please do what is agreed in the BASA and leave Arik to its faith of doom brought about by mismanagement
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...The UK goverment please do what is agreed in the BASA...
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The words fairness and equity have no place when economic interests and international diplomacy come into play. It's all about leveraging any and every conceivable form of competitive advantage to ensure "national" interest is protected and objectives achieved. I love the hypocritical gibberish that UK carriers are doing Nigerians a huge favour by flying into Lagos and that when they pull out, Nigeria will be marooned and cease to exist. Same argument as the NATO mandate for Libya was purely to protect innocent civilians. Forget the £500m bombing cost knowing £61billion Libyan cash is stashed frozen in EU banks. Now rebuilding cost is over £300 billion and a 10 year period; and guess who's getting paid both destruction and construction fees? this is what fairness and equity to the Libya and by extension Africa.
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BA/Nigeria Govt
And in the likely event that BA ends the age long favour of operating into Nigeria, it will surely be party time for KLM, Lufthansa, Iberia, Air France, Turkey etc. BA is working for her money than doing anyone any favour. I dare BA to quit this route. Thats why they have being knocking at the doors in Abuja seeking negotiations in the last 2weeks.
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Hon. Minister, GOD bless u mightily. U are d one dat certainly merit d GCON. More grease 2 ur elbow, infact 2 ur feet also. Well done
During my stays in Nigeria I've never heard a thing like that. The naijas keep amazing me