The United Kingdom, through its Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, has clarified the reasons behind Nigerian flag carrier Air Peace being denied access to Heathrow Airport.
In a letter dated September 5, 2024, addressed to Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Haigh stated that Air Peace submitted its requests for flight slots too late for both the Summer 2024 and Winter 2024/2025 seasons. The requests were received after the Airports Coordination Limited (ACL) had already completed the slot coordination process for the summer season.
Haigh outlined the options available to Air Peace, stating that the airline could either join a waitlist, operate from another airport, or acquire slots through trading and commercial arrangements with other carriers.
The letter noted: “We encourage Air Peace to continue to liaise with Airports Coordination Limited, ACL, on the process for acquiring ad-hoc and historic slots at the UK’s coordinated airports. ACL reports that Air Peace sent late requests for slots for the Summer 2024 season and the Winter 2024/2025 season; their requests were received after the slot coordination process had concluded for each season.”
She further explained that Heathrow Airport is constrained by runway capacity and an Air Traffic Movement limit, affecting the number of available slots. For the Summer 2024 season, 290,580 slots were available, while requests reached 319,721, resulting in 29,141 unfulfilled slot requests being placed on a waitlist for potential future availability.