After 80 years in Nigeria, service still in our DNA – BA boss

Kola Olayinka is the country manager for British Airways in Nigeria. In this interview with CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO, he x-rays the challenges facing the airline especially with issue of forex and the deployment of new machines on the Lagos-London route. Excerpts

What were the challenges your airline faced in the last two years including trapped funds?
The challenges first started with the last general election in the country, how long it took. We went through the issue of FOREX and remitting money became difficult. We seem to be turning the corners. We are not fully there yet.

I am sure you know all the figures. I don’t want to brandish the figures again. It was scary because you start talking of $600 million. Things are getting better and we realise we need to bring back the B747 on Lagos route.

We have always flown B747. The one we flew was an older B747. The seat configuration was 14 in First Class, 70 in Business Class and 48 in Club World and about 185 in Economy.

The B747 that we are starting now; we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel s. Things are getting better, Nigerians are still travelling, businesses are picking up.

Of course, people will tell you that the challenges are still there. They are managing it; they are applying strategies. We can see some strength in the economy based on what the government is doing and we thought that it would only be fair for our customers who have endured hard times with us will start bringing back good fares, fantastic products.

This B747 is going to be more refined with IFE improved on it. I think we have 120 channels of different movies that you can watch, meals are better, seats are better and that is where the £400 million expenditure on Club World as quoted in the press is going.

That £400 million is not just for Nigerian route but on all our aircraft that we have in Club World That is why we are bringing this on and we are very confident that the customers can only be the better for it.

Today, for example, we are breaking a new fare. We are having fares in the economy for about $440 to London and we are having Business class for $2800 to London.

Not only is the product getting better effective September 7th, it is also progressively getting cheaper. It is cheaper and better. It is a very difficult combination.

Our customers have stayed with us through this difficult times trying to describe to you from 2015. I can imagine how expensive the fares have been not because we increased the fare but if the dollar is at N520 or N500 and the fare was N160, 000 it is now about N500, 000.

So, things are getting better. We are bringing a new product; so we are launching a promotion and I don’t think there is any business that can offer. We are in the middle of summer and we just hope that our customers will take advantage from September.

Schools are not resuming until mid-September. People still have opportunity of traffic just like a couple or as a business or individual and that is we thought we should speak to our very close friends and just let you know what we are doing. You know that our message is always simple, straight forward and about the customers.

We just want to look at your operations in Nigeria. BA was 80 years last year and 81 this year, how can you appraise your operations in terms of challenges, the highs and the lows?
Thanks very much. Looking back is always a privilege because if you look back on the route. I started many years back and you can imagine how many bosses I have gone through all the years. People have really passed through this place.

They built the business, this company. One of our CEO’s came into Nigeria recently. He has retired. He is Keith Williams. The top things he said is that service is in our DNA. Service is part of us. It is what we do. That is what keeps BA going.

If you lose service, you lose everything. I am not saying that we are perfect all the time, but I can tell you that when something goes wrong that is when you see BA rise up to the challenge. It has been a really good journey all these years.

If you take a look at our operations, it has always been about the customers. The aviation industry in Nigeria has changed. There are a lot more competition than 20 years ago. Many airlines were not here 20 years ago. The Americans were not here 20 years ago, the Middle Eastern carriers were not here 20 years ago and they are here now in full force.

Even the European carriers; some were not here 20 years ago. What was the market that was dependent on new carriers? Almost all airlines from every continent are here in Nigeria. That means the pressure is on making sure you deliver as a company.

We are happy. Competition is good. When there is competition, the customers benefit like bringing out this promotion. Some of my colleagues will be jumping up because of it because the customer is the better for it.

Let the best man win on the day; that is what business is all about. It is not about protecting any one, it is about letting the best airline that offers the best fares, best product, best people win at the end of the day.

I must also add that Nigerian travellers are extremely intelligent. You can’t fool them. May be you can fool a person but you can’t fool everybody. If you sell something to them that they don’t like, they won’t come back.

The era of taking the customers for granted is over. We are at an era where customers know more about aircraft than some of us. Technology has also helped. All you need to do is go online and everything comes out.

If you want to see the inside of a plane, it is there on the website even on our website. We adore our customers. We realised that without our customers, there is absolutely no business.

It might take some time but your business will be eroded if you are not doing enough for your customers and that is one of the strength I think BA has.

We know our customers love us, they love the service but we are never going to take them for granted which is why we are bringing back the B747.

One unique thing about the B747 is that the upper deck; there are some people in Nigeria, what they want is go on the upper deck. It is quiet, beautiful, nice, serene and you feel like you are in a world of your own and people love it and it is coming back.

I am surprised that BA is bringing back the B747 and it is coming at a period airlines are using more efficient, fuel efficient two engine airplane. The B747 is a fuel guzzler and it is also a period Jet A1 is an issue, why is BA coming back to this aircraft?
Generally across the globe, aircraft are getting newer. We have the A380. We have 12 of those. They are in service. You can see a progression in aircraft acquisition all over the world.

We may not be as aggressive as some other airlines but we equally these newer version and you can see new things happening. B747 was not manufactured yesterday but the services would all be brand new including the interior.

The seats will all be brand new, the IFE will all be redone and it is brand new. Yes, there is some cost to it but we also believe that if you look at our fares out of here, our customers pay quite a bit and we want to make sure they get value for their money to compensate them for what they pay because all these years.

Like I said, they deserve some benefits from the money they are spending whether it is a man that employs ten people that are supposed to have a meeting in London or is a family that just want to go for summer with their children without breaking the bank especially with what is happening in the country now.

If for a period of time you offer them some flexible fares, I think it makes sense and then you can keep them. We don’t want a one customer business, we want customers that keep coming back because when we get it right for them, give the right fares, the right product.