Falana calls for suspension of BA, Virgin Atlantic flights over Air Peace denial

Femi Falana, an erudite and learned activist, has called for the suspension of flight operations into Nigeria by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic until such a time when Nigeria’s Air Peace is allowed to also fly on the Lagos-London route by the provisions of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement(BASA) signed by Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Falana commented at Abuja’s just concluded Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) Conference.

He stated that Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) allow for the interchange of flight operations on the route by designated airlines of both countries in line with the agreement signed by both governments and that it was out of place and unfair for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to be allowed to continue flying into Nigeria without any Nigerian airline flying to London in return.

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He observed that Air Peace has proven it can operate on international routes, adding that the airline currently flies to China, Israel, India and South Africa, among others, using modern aircraft comparable to its foreign competitors.

Falana, therefore, submitted that if Air Peace is not allowed to fly to London, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic should be stopped from flying to Nigeria.

Air Peace has a fleet of modern long-haul and regional aircraft that match those of other foreign airlines operating in Nigeria.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.