By Dickson Omobola
Chief Commercial Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Mr Adedayo Olawuyi, has fingered the dominance of foreign carriers in Nigeria’s aviation market to the weakness of domestic airlines, saying the country lacks strong local and regional operators capable of competing effectively.
Olawuyi said airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Asky Airlines continue to dominate the Nigerian market because they built extensive networks that enable passengers from Nigeria to connect to multiple destinations.
He spoke during a courtesy visit to the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents, LAAC, in Lagos recently, saying Nigerian carriers need to expand regional operations and offer direct services to destinations across West Africa to be able to compete.
He said: “The challenge we have in Nigerian aviation space today, where we are dominated by foreign carriers, is because of a lack of strength of the domestic carriers. What do I mean? There are the likes of Emirates, and a lot of people don’t go to Dubai, but they connect to other destinations. For Qatar, how many people go to Doha? Ethiopia has 35 to 40 flights a week into the country. For Asky, who goes to Lome? The point I am making is we have seen a dominance of foreign carriers because we do not have strong domestic and regional operators.”
According to him, the only way for the country’s airlines to end that dominance is to take the battle to their markets.
He said: “We need flights. That is the truth. A passenger going to Dakar via Asky will first go to Lome. From Lome, they will probably take the passengers to Abidjan. From Abidjan, maybe to Banjul before eventually going to Dakar. Why can’t a Nigerian carrier give them direct service from Lagos?”
Olawuyi, however, said operating regional routes remains challenging for local airlines, noting that deploying large aircraft on routes with low passenger traffic often proves commercially unsustainable.
He said: “Now, the challenge you have seen with carriers is when you bring in a Boeing 737, a 150 or 160-seater aircraft, and deploy it on a route that has fewer than 40 passengers per day in each direction, it becomes unsustainable. That is why you see that a lot of the carriers that have succeeded in West Africa have had to undertake a lot of optimisation.
“One of the things we are trying to do is to right-size the market. Instead of just deploying a big aircraft and trying to fly, right-size the market. Ensure you are flying, you are matching the capacity with the demand in that market.
“Second, we see a lot of market stimulation. You will look at market data today and you will say, there is no traffic between Nigeria and Ivory Coast, for example, and you will start a flight tomorrow, yet you can double those numbers within 12 months.”
On challenges inhibiting Nigerian carriers from competing with foreign airlines, he said: “The biggest challenge we have is infrastructure. We are very happy with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo. Today, you arrive from domestic airport, going to international, it can take you two hours to connect, depending on the traffic. If an airline brings in a passenger from Douala, for example, connecting to Johannesburg, they will tell him he needs to get a visa to come into the country. We are trying to address this with advocacy.
“But I believe that they are trying to address the transit issue in that new facility (the Murtala Muhammed International Airport) as well. That will help with regional to regional connectivity. But domestic to regional and international continues to be a problem. If you look at what is happening in other hubs around the world; for instance, look at what is happening in Dubai, in Doha, you will see the multiplier effect of what a proper connecting airport can do for the country.”
