The federal government and the government of Canada have signed a codesharing agreement to boost efficiency in the aviation industry.
Gbenga Saka, special adviser on digital media to Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, announced on his X page on Friday.
Codesharing is a practice in the airline industry where two airlines enter into an agreement that allows one to sell seats on a flight operated by the other.
The agreement signed would allow two or more airlines either from Canada or Nigeria to sell seats on each other’s flights.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement, Keyamo said the agreement would advance the relationship between both countries
“Today, we advance our relationship one step further as we sign a very important agreement,” the minister said.
“It is not a full Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), but one that has to do with codesharing and subsequently, we are going to designate airlines on both sides to move this forward.
“An agreement has come into force today and we will have to communicate with our local operators on both sides.
“Many of them have been actually lining up for this initiative. We have actually granted a few operators approval to run that route already and it is just for them to take advantage of this code sharing agreement to begin operations.”
Keyamo also said the agreement was entered to ignite an aeronautical relationship between both countries.
On his part, Pasquale Salvaggio, high commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, said the agreement indicates the people-to-people ties and the growing bilateral and commercial relations between both countries.
“Codesharing is important because it allows for an airline to place their designator codes on a flight operated by another airline and then to sell tickets on that flight, offering passengers a seamless journey on one ticket,” Salvaggio said.
“So, this is one step in making it a more seamless process for the operators and for the passengers.”
On July 23, 2024, the duo began talks over the possibility of connecting both nations through direct flights.
The two nations also discussed potential business collaboration in the aviation sector.
