Qatar Airways has opened up on rumoured plans for the airline to stop operating in Nigeria. The airline’s Vice-President for Africa, Hendrik du-Preez, in a published interview, explained that the cost of doing business in Africa and Nigeria poses a significant challenge to every airline operating in the region.
Recall that IATA had earlier reportedly confirmed that British Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, and other foreign airlines could leave Nigeria soon over trapped ticket revenues in Nigeria and other countries.
However, Du-Preez stated that despite the many obstacles, especially in Nigeria, where purchasing power is still a barrier due to the high inflation rates in many African nations, the company has implemented mechanisms to increase its capacity. He claimed that the devaluation of currencies has significantly affected some countries, such as Nigeria and Egypt.
Additionally, he stated that the airline has learned to maintain an attitude of adaptability to these changes in the landscape, which manifested as either an increase in demand or a decrease in capacity during specific times.
He added that Nigeria is one of Africa’s top three most populous countries and one of the markets that were probably underserved before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Du-Preez further said: We saw the opportunity to expand our capacity by first increasing our Lagos flights and then adding Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt networks to the list. We can say that this is the most connected market we have in Africa.
In Africa, at this stage, our perspective is long-term. We have made massive investments in Nigeria over the last few years, and even with the current challenge of inflation the country is constantly facing, we believe that it will still pay-off in the coming future, he emphasised.
