Nigeria, Canada bolster aviation ties with codesharing agreement

Abdullateef Fowewe

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Canadian Authority have signed a codesharing agreement to boost efficiency and improve service delivery in the aviation industry.

Codesharing is a practice in the airline industry where two or more airlines share the same flight.

The agreement signed would allow two or more airlines either from Canada or Nigeria to sell seats on each other’s flights.

The agreement would also enable airlines to offer more destinations and flights to their customers without having to operate them themselves.

Speaking in Abuja on Friday during the signing of the agreement, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo said the agreement would advance the relationship between both countries.

Speaking on the significance of the agreement, Keyamo said, “Today, we advance our relationship one step further as we sign a very important agreement. It is not a full Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), but one that has to do with codesharing and subsequently, we are going to designate airlines on both sides to move this forward.

“An agreement has come into force today and we will have to communicate with our local operators on both sides. Many of them have been actually lining up for this initiative. We have actually granted a few operators approval to run that route already and it is just for them to take advantage of this codesharing agreement to begin operations.”

Keyamo further clarified that the agreement was entered to ignite aeronautical relationship between both countries.

The High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, Pasquale Salvaggio who represented the Canadian Authority said the agreement indicates the people-to-people ties and the growing bilateral and commercial relations between both countries.

His remark, “Code sharing is important because it allows for an airline to place their designator codes on a flight operated by another airline and then to sell tickets on that flight, offering passengers a seamless journey on one ticket.

“So, this is one step in making it a more seamless process for the operators and for the passengers.”