Jimmy Eichelgruen is Delta Airlines’ sales director for Africa, Middle East, and India. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE-KORIEOCHA, he speaks on Delta Airlines’ consistent operations into Nigeria in the last 15 years and why passenger traffic to the USA has remained strong despite challenges of economic downturn and airlines’ trapped funds.
How would you describe Delta Airlines’ 15 years of consistent and unwavering service between Nigeria and the United States?
We are committed to the Nigerian market. We see Nigeria as being a really good market for us. We have done very well. We have been in Nigeria during the ups and downs. When there was the initial repatriation of fund issues in 2016, we were still around. We are committed to this market and we believe we can contribute to the Nigerian economy, and bring in economic benefits.
For example, we have flown 2.6million passengers in 15 years we have been operating in Nigeria and 20 thousand tonnes of cargo from Nigeria to the United States. This shows that there is a huge benefit in trade that we bring. Nigeria and the United States are big trading partners and we as airlines help to facilitate this. We have done very well.
Despite foreign airlines’ trapped currencies in Nigeria, which made Emirates suspend flight operations into Nigeria, Delta airline has continued to operate into the country. What is the driving force?
We do have trapped funds in Nigeria. Right now, tickets are being purchased in US dollars because Nigeria has an agreement with the US that allows this. This helps us mitigate the effects of trapped funds. But we are committed to the route. We are still flying daily and we have no plans to suspend the service at all. We still have our daily service from Lagos to Atlanta with connections to 200 points within North America. As far as the service to New York is concerned, it is suspended at the present time. We were hit with COVID-19 and this affected the passenger load but this is being reviewed to see what could be done. But at this time, we are committed to operate daily within Lagos and Atlanta.
America is one of the countries Nigerians love to visit. Before now, the restrictions on drop box and visa interview waiver have discouraged people from travelling to the US especially for tourism and visit to family and friends. Has this affected passenger traffic from Nigeria to the US and vice versa?
Our traffic remains strong out of Nigeria and there are multiple reasons for this. First of all, a lot of Nigerians have multiple entry visas into the USA and that is what they are using. We also have to live with what is available at the present time. As I said, our load remains strong. Could there be more traffic? Possibly there could. But this situation is not unique only to Nigeria.
Why did you suspend your New York route and are there any plans to resume that route any time soon?
This is always on constant reviews. Like I said, we were hit with COVID-19 and this affected flights to New York, which was suspended but this is under constant review. But first of all, we have to get over the challenges with repatriation of funds and we have to look at demand. As I said, we are committed to the market and we also found that passengers who would have gone via New York are equally happy to travel via Atlanta. Atlanta is a huge hub and we offer 200 points beyond Atlanta. So, it’s quite easy to take a flight to Atlanta and connect from there.
Aviation experts and stakeholders say Nigeria is one of the very few countries that recovered from Covid-19 very fast and defied predictions of the International Air Transport Association. Would you say this is true, especially as regards your operations into and out of Nigeria?
The recovery is taking everyone a little by surprise. We thought there would be a recovery after Covid-19 but there has been huge pent-up demand not only in Nigeria but in most of the markets that we serve. It has been unique in Nigeria and it’s strong in Nigeria. It also must be remembered that we started service with COVID and we ramped up our schedules from Nigeria quicker than we did from Europe, which shows that there was a huge demand.
Nigeria has economic ties with the United States, as many people travel from Nigeria to the United States and back and as there is a huge Nigerian community in the United States. There is also the visit of family and friends in the United States. So, there is also traffic from Nigeria. There has been a significant ramp up of demand from Nigeria but also from other markets. For example in South Africa, we found a similar thing there. It is a worldwide phenomenon how pent-up demand is taking off.
How has the Covid-19 recovery been for the airline? Is the airline back to pre-covid levels?
Delta Airlines over the years has been a financially very strong airline. We went into Covid-19 with a stronger balance sheet than a lot of the other airlines. With the pent-up demand, we are seeing the financial benefits as well. We have to make up for the Covid time but we did enter with Delta having a strong financial balance sheet.
How much of your money is trapped in Nigeria currently and have you received some payments from the central bank?
I don’t know the exact figure but like every airline, we do have some funds trapped in Nigeria.
Compared to other African countries you fly to, how well is the Nigerian market doing?
The African markets that we serve are Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. We are doing very well in all these countries and it goes back to the pent up demand. We have just introduced a new service in South Africa; from Cape Town to Atlanta. We have ramped up services there as well. So, overall, I think it’s a very pleasing result that we are seeing in Africa generally but we are also seeing demand from the USA to Europe. But we have to make up for the difficult Covid time.
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Any plans to expand operations beyond Lagos in Nigeria soon?
We have got a joint venture with Air France KLM and Virgin Atlantic and passengers from Abuja have the option to travel via Europe, using our partners, Air France KLM and it is much easier than traveling via Lagos. I think we serve the Abuja market very well with our partners. In addition, one of our ways of tapping the huge potential of the African market is growing our footprint with our partners, Air France KLM and Virgin Atlantic.
It must be remembered that we have a code share growing with Kenya Airways, which is an African airline which we are very excited about. We are growing our footprint in Africa together with our partners. Delta is always looking at opportunities as they arrive and we have got aircraft and there are financial possibilities of such expansion.
How are you able to caution the effect of rising aviation fuel prices that has hit airlines globally?
There are two parts to this. First of all, as an airline, it is not uncommon. We have to tackle volatility in the fuel market and we have been doing this for years and we have had to manage this well. Another important thing is that we have our own refinery in Pennsylvania in the USA which is unique.
So, therefore we can reduce the cost of fuel for Delta which is a big plus for us. With the issue of Ukraine and Russia, we have not really noticed any significant drop in demand. So we have to manage the fuel cost together with airfares which has to remain competitive.
An average of how many passengers do you airlift from Nigeria on a daily basis?
The aircraft which we operate out of Nigeria, which is the state-of-the-art Airbus 330 has 223 seats and we are operating at a very good capacity. If we have a 223 seats and we are filling most of them, then that will give you a good indication of how many passengers we are carrying and this is both inbound and outbound. We are very pleased with what we are doing in Nigeria. It’s a great market to be in and we are fully committed to it.
What is the next big thing for Delta in Nigeria?
We are looking forward to the next 15 years. We have got a lot of positives here in Nigeria. Airlines help the economy. The USA is a big trading partner. We want to be part of this. We see the potential. Importantly, we do community engagement projects. We help some charity and importantly, this is one thing people tend to forget; our management in Nigeria is totally Nigerian. Our representatives here are Nigerians. We are helping build up our all-Nigerian team and we are very proud of that.
Q: We are very pleased with what we are doing in Nigeria. It’s a great market to be in and we are fully committed to it.
