The company says it is now losing £180,000 a
A Nigerian airline says it could pull its business out of the United Kingdom after one of its pilots was arrested by immigration officials on suspicion of being a stowaway and threatened with deportation.
Max Air, which is based in Nigeria, condemned the move by border staff at Bournemouth International Airport, stating that it is an example of the Home Office’s “hostile environment policy”.
The company says it is now losing £180,000 a day, because it cannot find another pilot to fly the plane after Captain Adam Dilli Ibrahim, aged 36, returned home voluntarily on another flight.
Captain Ibrahim was detained for questioning, fingerprinted and photographed, before being told he would be forcibly removed — even though pilots do not legally require visa to enter the UK for seven days or less.
Frank Unokesan, whose company is responsible for maintaining Max Air planes, said there had been a “long history” of problems with immigration officials.
“Whenever they see a green (Nigerian) passport, they doubt the captain and believe he is a stowaway; that’s their mindset. The captain has done nothing wrong. I feel terrible, I feel ashamed. It is so much bureaucracy. That’s the way I see it. I would have thought with Brexit the UK would try and make more friends, but now they are kicking us in the teeth. I don’t know what kind of government they are running,” he said.
Max Air may now avoids the UK in future and takes its business to Germany, which has allowed pilots stay for up to three months without any problems.
He continued: “Nigeria is a former colony of the UK and we are trying to do business with Britain, but now they are turning back our business and deporting the pilot.
“Max Air has 10 Boeing aircraft and five private jets, one of the biggest in the market in Nigeria. The Managing Director is so angry they are treating us like this. If you treat us like this, what is the hope for the future in the UK?”
The dispute with the Home Office centres on the interpretation of the Immigration Act 1971, which states that a pilot or crew member does
