The recent bilateral interline agreement signed by one of the biggest airlines in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines and Nigeria’s largest aircraft fleet operator, Air Peace is a welcome development.
An interline agreement between airlines is a commercial arrangement in which two or more airlines agree to cooperate in transporting passengers on connecting flights, even though each airline operates its own aircraft and manages its own operations.
The agreement allows a passenger to travel on two or more different airlines using a single ticket or coordinated booking, depending on the terms of the agreement.
It is very necessary to differentiate between an interline and a codeshare agreement. While interline arrangement allows airlines cooperate on connecting journeys and ticketing, codeshare is such that one airline sells seats on another airline’s flight using its own flight code. That means, the former generally offers more limited cooperation, whereas the latter provides deeper network integration.
For interline, there are lots of benefits for airlines that are involved. For instance, the new arrangement between Ethiopian Airlines and Nigeria’s Air Peace could potentially allow passengers travelling from Lagos or Abuja to access destinations beyond the Nigerian airline’s direct network.
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Similarly, foreign passengers arriving in Lagos could connect to other Nigerian cities through the local carrier.
Such cooperation, no doubt is expected to improve connectivity between West Africa and major international markets by integrating the domestic, regional and international operations of both airlines, while simplifying booking and baggage arrangements for connecting passengers.
Under the agreement, both airlines will be able to issue tickets for eligible journeys involving flights operated by the two carriers. Passengers travelling on qualifying itineraries will also benefit from through-checked baggage services to their final destinations, where applicable.
The arrangement means that travellers connecting between the airlines will no longer need to make separate bookings for eligible journeys or go through the inconvenience of collecting and re-checking their baggage at connecting points.
These benefits are indications that there is great need for Nigerian carriers to explore greater cooperation rather than operate in isolation, particularly as the continent seeks to improve its share of global air traffic.
This is particularly important as African governments intensify efforts to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfFTA), which seeks to promote economic integration, expand intra-African trade and create a more connected continental market.
It is therefore, not out of place to affirm that Nigeria cannot build internationally competitive airlines by allowing them to operate in isolation.
If foreign carriers are using extensive partnerships to expand their reach into the Nigerian market, local airlines must also develop the commercial alliances necessary to extend their own reach beyond the country’s borders.
Indeed, Nigerian carriers need to leverage on such economic alliances for effective competitiveness in the global arena.
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