BA/VAA price fixing fraud

For Nigerians flying the Lagos route, the face off between British Airways, BA and Virgin Atlantic and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA is long overdue. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways are notorious for charging excessively for flights between Lagos to London, until when Arik Air began to operate on that route. The rate in Ghana is Lower than that of Nigeria and the route from Ghana to London is Longer than that of Nigeria in terms of distance. British Airways charges N1.35m for a first class return ticket while in Accra, it is N773,000 while for the upper club class. the rates of 918,234 from Lagos as against 481, 498 from Accra. like BA, VAA air fare from Lagos to London is 821,000 as against 385,000 from Accra. Lufthansa and other foreign airlines also charge higher than others.
These foreign airlines do not exploit passengers from their countries or other countries as they do in Nigeria. in my own view NCAA acted well by intervening in the unfolding drama.
"Our doors are open to foreign airlines to explore Nigeria and the business opportunities the country has to offer, but our doors are closed to exploitation" those were the stern warning of Harold Demuren, the NCAA Director General of NCAA when another foreign airline, United Airlines launched its inaugural flights from Lagos to Houston, non stop direct flight. the warning was against the backdrop of an investigation in to the affairs of BA and VAA. NCAA investigation just concluded a six month investigation and found that BA and VAA erred in the areas of pricing and therefore the airlines were made to cough out $135m and $100 respectively as ompensation.
The challenge in enforcing the payment of the fine is though as there are no anti trust laws in the country thus placing it at a disadvantage when doing business with foreigners. The legislature has been foot dragging on the passage of the anti trust bill since 2002 and thus it is a disservice to the country's aviation industry. The price exploitation is not only applicable to Lagos - London route alone but also to other routes.
The problem in Nigeria's Aviation industry is that our domestic carriers do not have the capacity to compete with the foreign ones. When the foreign airlines operate profitably with Boeing 777s, 767s, 747s, A330s and A340s which is 85% we reply with Boeing 737s which is just 25%.
the main reason why they cannot compete favorably because they are undercapitalised and thus cannot acquire bigger jets.
A Boeing 777 cost between $245m to $300m. How many of our domestic carriers can afford that?
To save our airlines from collapsing, a regulated merger will strengthen them so also they (airlines)can also code share. NCAA should also go ahead by preparing a market for them via public expenditure traveling by compelling government to fly the local carriers. it will serve as a lifeline to them and a stimulus for investment