LAGOS: Nigeria's leading airline has been in constant dispute with the United Kingdom over landing slots in London and announced it had had enough and was ending its direct service to the British capital. In a statement Friday, the carrier said its Abuja-London route would stop over its lack of slots at London's Heathrow Airport. The Nigerian airline has said a government agreement entitles local airlines to 21 slots at UK airports, but the airline refused to pay increased rates for some Heathrow slots, which are administered by a private company. “The move was simply a financial one because we were not getting what we had been getting at Heathrow and then they wanted to up the fees,” an Arik official told Bikyamasr.com on Sunday. The company had already suspended flights for some time last year, sparking a dispute between Nigeria and the UK that saw British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways fined $235 million over alleged inflated ticket prices. Those fines have since been dropped. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/hDj09 Tags: Arik, Flights, London, Nigeria Section: Latest News, Nigeria, Travel, United Kingdom, West Africa
