Nigeria and Russia plan to replace their 1967 Bilateral Air Service Agreement, with negotiations intended to conclude within six months. Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo said the countries were targeting a signing in Saint Petersburg in April 2027.
Keyamo announced the plan after meeting Dmitry Stanislavovich Zverev, Russia’s State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Transport, during engagements in Moscow. According to the minister, both countries have established negotiating teams to work on the revised agreement.
Nigeria’s delegation included the head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the registrar of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology and ministry and NCAA directors. The meeting also discussed possible cooperation beyond the agreement, although the announcement did not set out detailed new programmes.
The age of the existing agreement gives the negotiations an obvious historical dimension. An arrangement signed in 1967 would be 60 years old in 2027. Reviewing it is therefore about the framework for relations between the two countries’ aviation sectors, rather than simply putting a new date on an airline timetable.
For travellers, the key distinction is between an agreement being negotiated and a service becoming available to book. The announcement names no airline, starting airport, destination airport, flight frequency or fare. It cannot yet be used to plan a new direct journey between the two countries.
April 2027 is the target for concluding and signing the agreement, as described by the minister. It is not an announced first-flight date. Keeping that distinction clear matters because a diplomatic milestone and an airline’s commercial launch answer different questions for passengers and businesses.
The next developments to watch are the outcome of negotiations, the contents of any signed agreement and separate announcements from airlines if services are proposed. The current development is a defined process for updating a long-standing aviation arrangement; the practical impact on routes and travel choices remains to be established.