‘Why foreign airlines rule Nigeria’s skies’

Foreign airlines continue to dominate Nigeria's aviation market due to the weakness of domestic carriers, stated Adedayo Olawuyi, Chief Commercial Officer of United Nigeria Airlines. He explained that airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, and Asky Airlines maintain their strong presence by establishing extensive networks, enabling passengers from Nigeria to connect to numerous global destinations. Olawuyi emphasized that Nigerian airlines need to bolster their regional operations and provide direct services across West Africa to effectively challenge this dominance. He noted that a Nigerian passenger traveling to Dakar via Asky might first fly to Lome, then Abidjan, and potentially Banjul before reaching their final destination, highlighting a missed opportunity for direct Nigerian service. Olawuyi stressed the importance of offering direct flights from Lagos to destinations like Dakar. He also addressed the challenge of deploying large aircraft on routes with low passenger traffic, deeming it commercially unsustainable. Instead, he advocated for right-sizing the market by matching aircraft capacity with actual demand. Furthermore, Olawuyi pointed to the need for market stimulation, suggesting that new routes, such as between Nigeria and Ivory Coast, could potentially double traffic within a year. He identified infrastructure as the primary challenge hindering Nigerian carriers' ability to compete with their foreign counterparts.

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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.