Aviation officials from Nigeria and Ghana met in Abuja on Tuesday, 20 September 2022, to discuss expanding reciprocal route rights between the two countries under the Single African Air Transport Market, following complaints from Nigerian carriers about restricted access to Ghanaian routes.
Nigerian officials said several domestic airlines had sought approval to operate additional frequencies into Accra and Kumasi but had faced delays in securing the necessary bilateral clearances, despite both Nigeria and Ghana having signed on to SAATM's open-skies framework.
Balancing Competing Interests
Ghanaian representatives said their side was open to expanding access but wanted assurances that any new capacity would be genuinely reciprocal, citing concerns that larger Nigerian carriers could crowd out smaller Ghanaian operators on shared routes if frequencies were liberalised too quickly.
Both sides agreed to reconvene before the end of the year to finalise a revised bilateral air services agreement, with Nigerian officials expressing hope that expanded access could be in place in time for the following year's peak travel season.
