open skies agreement: hasty

The government signing of the open skies with the US was too hasty. It was done at a time when we did not have airlines that were capable of operating that route coupled with Cat 1 albatross, which should have been negotiated with the open skies.

The EU, Australia, Brazil and some other countries negotiated the agreements asking for some concessions such as delay in start off, slot allocation, ownership restriction, entry points, certification status, even for business issues not related to aviation while we only asked for five year grace for non existent flag carriers, which expectedly was not utilized.

The Americans are here with Delta flying from Lagos and Abuja, hopefully Continental will be here in November, with her hubby United hibernating in Accra, while our own Air Nigeria was stopped due to the involvement of Virgin Group, though Arik is operating with a foreign registered aircraft which is a cost advantage to American carriers.

Also our Cat 1 certification keeps moving from one quarter to the other because the American already have the needed open skies while jealously guarding their robust domestic market with the ownership and cabotage clause.

the open skies has lowered the average fares on that route and given passengers the option of having a direct flight.

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