Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo wrote to UK Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh on 1 August 2024, warning that Nigeria would deny British Airways and Virgin Atlantic their slots at Lagos and Abuja airports unless Air Peace, Nigeria's largest carrier, was granted landing rights at London Heathrow. The letter escalated months of frustration within the Nigerian government over Air Peace's inability to secure a Heathrow slot despite launching direct Lagos-London Gatwick flights in March that year.
Keyamo's letter argued that British Airways, which has flown into Lagos since 1936, and Virgin Atlantic both operated into Nigeria's primary international gateways without restriction, while Air Peace had been confined to the secondary Gatwick airport since it applied for Heathrow slots ahead of the IATA winter season. He invoked the principle of reciprocity under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement between the two countries, insisting that Nigerian carriers deserved equivalent access to the UK's primary hub.
The UK's Response
In a reply dated 5 September 2024, Haigh told Keyamo that Air Peace could not be accommodated at Heathrow because its slot request had arrived after the coordination process for the relevant season had already concluded. She set out three options for the airline: join the Heathrow waitlist, acquire slots through commercial trading arrangements with other carriers, or continue operating from an alternative London airport, an option Air Peace had already taken up at Gatwick. Haigh said her department would be open to further discussion at the International Civil Aviation Negotiations event scheduled for October 2024.
A Dispute That Outlasted the Year
The standoff did not end in 2024, and the reciprocity threat became one of the most closely watched diplomatic disputes in Nigerian aviation that year, feeding into a broader narrative under Keyamo of pushing back against what officials described as an uneven playing field for Nigerian carriers on international routes. The Heathrow slot question remained unresolved as the year closed, with both sides publicly committed to further talks rather than immediate reciprocal restrictions.