Saudi Arabia has cancelled the visas of all 264 passengers airlifted by Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, on arrival in Jeddah from Kano and insisted that the airline return them to Nigeria.
The flight took off from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, via the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Sunday night and arrived in Saudi Arabia’s major city today without issues. Still, on landing, the Saudi Arabian authorities announced that all the passenger’s visas were cancelled.
The source said that all the passengers and the airline personnel were shocked at the cancellation of the visas because, during check-in, the passengers went through the Advanced Passengers Prescreening System (APPS), which was also monitored by the Saudi Arabian authorities before the flight left Nigeria.
The source wondered whether what happened was a strategy to discourage the airline from operating to the destination because since it started the operation, it has been recording a high load factor, and even the flight expected to leave on Tuesday for Jeddah was already fully booked.
When the Nigerian embassy waded in, the Saudi authorities were said to have reduced the number of passengers that would be returned to 177 from 264.
Saudi Air has been operating directly from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia, and since Air Peace started flight service to the Middle Eastern nation at relatively lower fares, it has been receiving high patronage. As a Nigerian carrier, it helps to conserve foreign exchange for the country.
A source from the Nigerian embassy in Jeddah said that even the Saudi immigration personnel said they didn’t know who cancelled the visas, which were cancelled when the airline was already airborne to Jeddah.
According to the source, “the airline was exonerated in all this as the Advanced Passenger Prescreening System (APPS), which is live between countries, would have screened out any invalid visa and its passenger. The system accepted all affected passengers and passed them on.”
Those deported were 177 passengers, and Air Peace has already left with them back to Nigeria.
“They are on their way to Nigeria now,” the source said.
Industry observers have attributed this to aeropolitics, noting that it is a way to force the Nigerian operator out of the route unless the government intervenes, adopting the principle of reciprocity.
Reacting to the development, the retired CEO of Centurion Aviation Security and Safety Consult, Group Captain John Ojikutu, attributed the action of the Saudis to aeropolitics and diplomacy and urged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should step in immediately and intervene in the case.
He said that what happened showed why it is important for the Nigerian government to stand strongly with any Nigerian carrier designated to operate international destinations.
Ojikutu said that Nigeria should designate Nigerian airlines approved to operate out of the country as flag carriers, noting that the United States has no national carrier but all the airlines are supported by the government and are designated as flag carriers.
“The action of the Saudi authorities is shocking. There are aeropolitics there, and there is also diplomacy. There is a need for the Nigerian government to stand firmly with Nigerian carriers and designate them as flag carriers so that other countries will know that they represent Nigeria.
“The government must come out and intervene. The government must be behind Air Peace now to ensure that it is not denied its rights as contained in the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must not keep quiet. Nigeria must not keep quiet. Ideally, the government is expected to stand behind any of the country’s airlines that it designates to fly overseas,” Ojikutu declared.
