Sway of Middle East Passenger Traffic

Chinedu Eze

Last week Doha based mega carrier, Qatar Airways marked its inaugural flght to Kano and Port Harcourt, thus speading its wings to four destinations in Nigeria, including its ealier operations to Lagos and Abuja.

This has spurned a new trajectory in passenger traffic to the Middle East and beyond, as Doha serves as hub to connect the rest of the world by the airline.

In almost one year, the airline which first started operating three weekly flights to daily flights to Lagos multiplied its operations and became strategic at the period when diplomatic impasse and unnecessarily stringent COVID-19 protocol forced some major comeptitors from the region out of Nigeria’s airspace.

Qatar Airways and Egypt Air consolidated, ramping up passengers to Middle East destinations. That consilidation has tossed up the market share and redefined passengers choice of airlines, as every vacuum was snapped up by airlines that chose to operate at the time with the result of increased load factor.

On March 2, 2022, Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport to a water-cannon salute, marking the start of four new weekly services to Kano from Doha via Abuja and the third Nigerian destination served by Qatar Airways.

The inaugural flight was flown by Qatari Captain Mohammed Abdulla and Nigerian First Officer, Adeola Olamide Ogunmola, from Gwagwalada, just outside Abuja – a symbol of the close ties between the two countries.

The airline said that state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is serving the route, is one of the most modern aircraft in Qatar Airways’ fleet. It offers 22 seats in Business Class and 232 in economy. 

Qatar Airways’ Vice-President, Africa, Hendrik du Preez  said, “The new route will connect Kano, via Doha, to more than 140 destinations across its network. 

“Kano has been a trade and travel hub for hundreds of years. Now by linking it to the world’s best airport, Hamid International Airport in Doha, we hope to grow traffic between these two important hubs. We anticipate particular demand to and from India and other markets. We also expect there will be strong cargo demand. This new service not only underpins our commitment to Nigeria but is also a clear indicator of recovery and expected growth,” he said.

Qatar Airways said it has stayed steadfast in its commitment to Africa throughout the pandemic, noting that it has since increased frequencies and grown its network, considerably improving connectivity to and from the continent and providing passengers with more choice and convenience. 

In Nigeria, the airline offered three weekly flights to Abuja via Lagos in November 2020, which grew to four direct flights to Abuja in December 2021. In addition to the four weekly flights to Kano via Abuja, Qatar also started operating three weekly flights to Port Harcourt from Thursday March 3, 2022. This would bring the number of services it operates between Africa and Doha to 188 weekly flights serving 28 destinations across the continent. 

Minister of Aviation, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Hadi Sirika, said: “The new flights provide important travel and trade links between Nigeria and the world.  As the largest economy in Africa, this enhanced global connectivity via the new Qatar Airways service will provide a vital network to move goods and people, as we recover from challenges of the pandemic and prioritise growth. Kano and Port Harcourt are both important to this recovery. This reinforces the close ties between Nigeria and Qatar, and it paves the way to explore new, untapped opportunities.”

The airline said that it has continued to apply its flexible booking policy that offers unlimited changes to travel dates and destinations, and fee-free refunds for all tickets issued for travel completed by 31 May 2022. 

“Passengers flying to and from Kano will also benefit from Qatar Airways’ new baggage allowances which provide for up to 46kg in Economy class, split over two pieces, and 64kg, split over two pieces, in Business Class,” the airline said.

Qatar Airways said it is the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax. This follows the success of HIA as the first airport in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. 

“These awards provide assurance to passengers around the world that the airline’s health and safety standards are subject to the highest possible standards of professional, independent scrutiny and assessment. For full details of all the measures that have been implemented on board and at HIA, please visit qatarairways.com/safety,” Qatar Airways stated.

Reacting to Qatar Airways inaugural flight to Kano, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Susan Akporiaye, said that the decision of the airline to operate to four destinations in the country is in consonance with the federal government’s policy of designating international airlines to every region so that passengers from different states in that region could come to the major airport to fly out of the country.

“So 11 states which make up the northern region can come to Kano and travel out of Nigeria. This is very good and travel agents in the northern region are very happy about it.

“It is also good for copetition because before now, the travel agencts from the north complain of exploitative fares from Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines, but with the coming of Qatar Airways, the fares will come down, which will be to the benefit of the passengers and travel agents,” she said.