BEVERLY HILLS, October 16, (THEWILL) – Nigeria has ratified a bilateral aviation agreement with India allowing both countries airlines to restart flights.
Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, announced made this known saying the country has officially ratified Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) with India, the US, Morocco, and Rwanda.
Most agreements had been signed in the last few years and were pending ratification from both sides.
Currently, there are no airlines flying direct routes from Nigeria to India but there have been a number of repatriation flights this year between the two.
Although Nigeria is home to a substantial number of Indian expatriates and India sees thousands of yearly visitors from Nigeria, the lack of direct flights has meant passengers fly mostly with Middle East carriers.
Air Peace was set to be the first carrier to connect the two countries, with plans for a Mumbai-Lagos service but the plan was shelved due to flight restrictions brought upby COVID-19.
Now, Nigeria’s inclusion in India’s travel bubble and the BASA means Air Peace will have fewer regulatory hurdles when it does start flights.
Both Nigeria and India have restrictions on international flights. While the former only opened its airspace last month, the latter has only allowed a few dozen airlines to restart flights.
The new agreement between the countries does signal that we could see new routes in the near future. This would be a huge boost for travelers, who must take long connections and airlines alike.
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