After so many years of MOU with Lufthansa , the Nigerian government have decided to revoke the agreement it had with the german airline , under which the airline enjoyed free royalty payments for flights into the country.
It was revealed that Lufthansa did not keep to its own end of the bargain, after all there is not such thing as free lunch.

http://www.loogga.com/articles/why-l...nsa-aviation-ministry-mou-was.html

Translated: now that Arik Air has gone (more-or-less) down the drain and Lufthansa is the only carrier on these routes we want to have a higher royalty on the revenues. Let´s wait and see how this works out...

So, all of a sudden, in November 2012, Nigeria finds out that LH does not stick to an MoU frpom 2002? Now, one can discuss the "non-objection fee" for granting traffic rights when the other partner does not have a carrier able to use the reciprocal rights.

What is not Ok is that such non objection fees are paid in cash, I mean, someone could get funny ideas here. I worked myself for a company that did a great deal of business with Nigeria, making a ,lot of money with that freight traffoic. For some reason, that company, like many others, have pulle dout completely from that market. At least they do not operate there under their own name with a country organisation-.

There must be a reason for that, but it does not come to my mind right now.   

Quoting PanHAM (Reply 2): the other partner does not have a carrier able to use the reciprocal rights.

Nigeria has the strength but we both know that the Germans wouldn't prefer that to happen on one of Lufthansa's most profitable root. I flee its okay if the Africans point to discrepancies in their business deals with the rest of the world.

If Nigeriaq has a carrier that is not black listed , maintains it's aircraft properly and has the financial mstability, there is no reason not to grant them traffic rights under the bilateral. Lufthansa is not the transport ministry and vv.

Yes, Nigerians know that and they aren't trying to hold Lufthansa responsible for their situation, they are just taking care of business as usual.

Quoting Flying-Tiger (Reply 1): Translated: now that Arik Air has gone (more-or-less) down the drain and Lufthansa is the only carrier on these routes we want to have a higher royalty on the revenues. Let´s wait and see how this works out...

What is going on with ARIK?

I have a relative that deals specifically with LH and the Nigerian government. As of right now, it is just the transport ministry that is unhappy because LH did not invest in Arik Air which is part of the reason it went under. As a penalty, the government is trying to penalize LH for not investing, by revoking the MoU. Its nonsense, since LH is still flying their routes into and out of Nigeria. Its all talk and that's it. If LH leaves, its means a mad house for premium carriers to enter the market and establish themselves to the flying public.

Quoting AF022 (Reply 6): What is going on with ARIK?

I think the other posters are confusing Arik and Air Nigeria.

From what I've read, LH and Nigerian government entered into an agreement. They would assist Arik in setting up an MRO facility in the country as well as use Abuja airport as a hub for their activities in Africa (West Africa atleast). In turn they would receive increased royalty free designations/frequencies from Nigeria. LH is enjoying such increased frequency/designation but have not lived up to their end of the deal. As a result the federal government is looking to cancel the deal and basically collect the royalties LH would have otherwise paid.

Quoting ssublyme (Reply 9): From what I've read, LH and Nigerian government entered into an agreement. They would assist Arik in setting up an MRO facility in the country as well as use Abuja airport as a hub for their activities in Africa (West Africa atleast). In turn they would receive increased royalty free designations/frequencies from Nigeria. LH is enjoying such increased frequency/designation but have not lived up to their end of the deal. As a result the federal government is looking to cancel the deal and basically collect the royalties LH would have otherwise paid.

Hi ssublyme, AFAYK, where there any timelines and milestones set in the original agreement? I would doubt that anyone (the big non African carriers such as LH, EK, EY, AF/KL, etc. or African ET, SA, KQ) would want to be a bigger player in Nigeria and West Africa, but there always seems to be something that just doesn't line up. Not sure what it is but hopefully that will be fixed. I know for a fact that ET has looked at Nigeria for decades but never pulled the trigger and I don't know the exact details as to why. And this report shows that they are not alone in going cold feet. SO question to you is - in your opinion, why are we at this juncture once again?