Captain John T Okakpu, the managing director and chief executive of abx World, has said the resumption of Emirates Airlines’ flights to Nigeria will add value to West Africa’s economy more through cargo business.
Similarly, Capt. Okakpu said Emirates flights do not threaten the operations of Air Peace’s flight.
Speaking to Techeconomy’s correspondent, he said: “The truth is, the resumption of Emirates flight into the Nigeria Airspace would not threaten Air Peace airline operation.
However, it will positively affect the Nigeria air cargo business. This is because a lot of cargo would come from far the Eastern part of the world into Nigeria, so it would be easier for Emirates Airline to bring those cargoes to Nigeria.
According to him,
“The coming back of Emirates Airlines to the Nigeria space is laudable. Because a lot of Nigeria goes to India, Indian sub-continent and Asia, it will serve as a better connection for them.
Recall that yesterday, Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer disclosed that Emirates will resume daily flights to Nigeria on October 1, 2024.
“The Lagos-Dubai service has traditionally been popular with customers in Nigeria and we hope to reconnect leisure and business travelers to Dubai and onwards to our network of over 140 destinations.”
“We thank the Nigerian government for their partnership and support in re-establishing this route and we look forward to welcoming passengers back on board.”
Accordingly, “with the resumption of operations to Nigeria, Emirates operates to 19 gateways in Africa with 157 flights per week from Dubai, with further reach to an additional 130 regional points in Africa through its code share and interline partnerships with South African Airways, Airlink, Royal Air Maroc, Tunis Air, among others.”
Capt. Okakpu, however noted that Nigerians who shuttle between Nigeria and London, would have a good deal with Nigeria Air Peace Airline, because in just 6 hours they would have gotten to London through Air Peace direct flight, against 9 to 10 hours obtainable elsewhere.
“But to London, it’s definitely not good at all, you don’t want to fly 9-hours going somewhere and fly another 10 hours going another way, for a journey that is like 6 hours. That is why Air Peace is actually competing”.
“Because, they must first take you to their country, before they take you to London. So, a lot of people don’t understand that Turkish Airways, for instance, will take you to Turkey first and most of the time they will mistreat you there for being a Nigerian.
“So, why don’t you just jump into a flight that in six hours you get to your destination. For instance, I heard about a lady who spent 24-Hours, just to catch a flight that was not worth it!!”
“So, if you go to London using Emirates Airlines, it will take you about two days to get there. The truth is the resumption of Emirates Airline back into the Nigeria Airspace would not threaten Air Peace Airline.
However, it will positively affect the Nigeria Cargo business. This is because a lot of cargo would come in from the Eastern part of the world into Nigeria, so it would be easier for Emirates Airline to bring those cargoes to Nigeria.
“Cargo from Europe, for instance, can take up to three to six days. So, on a cargo side, Nigeria stands to benefit as it [Emirates] will increase the capacity of Cargo coming in.
“Many cargo airlines don’t come to Nigeria any longer, because of the state of the economy. Only Turkish Airlines comes, once in a while. Once upon a time, cargos came into Nigeria four times in a week, but now they hardly come.
The likes of Emirates, Saudi Air Cargo, used to come like three times in a week, but now, they don’t even come at all.
“When you see cargoes being collected at the Airport, most of them go underbelly, and airlines are skeptical about it, because most of the time they carry agricultural products, and once there is contamination on arrival, the goods will be destroyed.
If that is done, the concern airline will bear the cost of destruction, and that is why there are lots of cargoes on British Airways going to London, they are not carrying them because of contamination.
These contamination are caused by Nigerian government agencies especially NDLEA, NAFDAC and others, because of the ways and manners they inspect goods.
“So, the resumption of Emirates Airlines to the Nigeria airspace, will be of immense benefit to the Nigerian Cargo business, it is however not advisable for those travelling through the Air to the Europe
“It will also positively affect those travelling to places such as: Australia, Japan and the far Eastern part of the world. “But the question is, if you are travelling to London, would you rather go to the UAE, get a visa and later get a flight? While with Air Peace you can just get your flight and go.
“Because the coming of Air Peace in the Aviation industry has really saved the Nigeria Aviation Industry and shaken it to the foundation.”
Meanwhile, Emirates Airline said upon resumption of its services to Nigeria from 1 October 2024, it will deploy a Boeing 777-300ER.
EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.
