Competition on Nigeria-US route heats up 
… United airlines group set to seize market
When Delta Airlines began flight services between Altanta and Lagos in December 2007 after a decade stop by the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL), it was as if the lucrative route should be reserved for one airline as Delta was basking in the euphoria of the breakthrough.
For years when NAL operated Lagos-New York route, no US airline reciprocated the frequencies until the airline became liquidated. And connecting US became costlier than expected because of the gap created by the absence of national carrier as travellers from Nigeria had to go through Europe to connect US cities.
The coming of Delta from Georgia in 2007, however, broke the perceived jinx as travellers on that route heaved a sigh of relief. It, however, looked monopolised as only Delta operated the route for two years before Arik Air, which Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had designated on the route alongside Air Nigeria and Bellview, joined.
Arik soon began operations into New-York, gradually breaking the monopoly with competitive fares. “The direct operations will save travel time and reduce costs. Customers will no longer need to incur the cost of transit visa fees and other ticket taxes associated with flying via Europe. They will also be able to save a considerable amount of time on this non-stop service, equivalent to almost two full business days over the course of a return trip via Europe,” an analyst said.
The duopoly soon got broken as United Airlines got the approval to start operations from Washington-Dulles into Lagos last year. “I think this is good for travellers, we are getting to a point where travellers will have several choices of airlines and fares, the travellers are at the receiving end.
“The carriers must now brace up for the challenge of competition because more will still come, there is need for frequent promotional fares and constant offering of products and services at discounted amount,” a stakeholder said.
As if that was not enough, United Continental Holdings, parent company of Continental Airlines in the United States, during the week, announced direct operations of Continental Airlines between Huston and Lagos.
The new services would be launched on November 17, 2011. The new flight is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities by over three hours by eliminating any connection en route. Following the launch of the non-stop Lagos-Houston service, United will discontinue its one-stop Lagos-Washington/Dulles service via Accra.
To this end, the company said it is offering double MileagePlus miles to customers making bookings on the flight. The Lagos-Houston service will be the first scheduled, non-stop passenger service between Africa and Texas.
The flights will link Lagos with Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the new United’s largest hub. Althouh Delta is reported to have about 9 percent share in the Economy class and 70 percent in Business class, the United group may soon take over a larger chunk of the market with its giant operators.
