The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Air Peace

  • Port Harcourt Airport reopens after Air Peace incident

    The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has reopened the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, in Rivers following Saturday’s incident involving an Air Peace aircraft at the airport.

    The General manager Public Relations, NAMA, Mr Khalid Emele, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.

    Emele said Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) has been issued to airlines concerning the reopening of the runway which was closed after an Air Peace Flight P47291 overshot the runway on Saturday.

    Also, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), confirmed that the B737-500 aircraft had been towed from the site.

    Read Also: Air Peace: Soaring in spite of huge odds

    Yakubu said the aircraft was removed from the runway by FAAN in collaboration with the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).

    Air Peace aircraft with registration number 5N-BRN from Abuja carrying 94 passengers and six crew members on board had overshot the runway at the Port Harcourt Airport.

    However, all the passengers and crew members were safely evacuated after the incident which is already being probed by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

    NAN

  • Air Peace de-boards ‘unruly passenger’

    Air Peace has said it de-boarded a passenger, identified as Mr. Christopher Aniagboso, from its Lagos-Owerri flight to guarantee the safety of its crew and customers.

    A statement by its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah, said the carrier insisted that conducts with the potential of jeopardising the safety of passengers and crew were not welcome on any of its flights.

    The statement said: “Mr. Christopher Aniagboso had missed his morning Lagos-Owerri flight on May 12. He later showed up for the afternoon flight in good time and was issued an over-wing exit seat on request.

    “After boarding, he was approached by a crew member for the normal safety briefing for passengers in the over-wing exit seats, but he suddenly claimed he did not understand English. Other passengers around him offered to translate to him, but he insisted that the crew must brief him in Igbo.

    “When all efforts to have Mr. Aniagboso cooperate with the crew failed, the crew advised him to change his seat as the flight was already running late. He declined the advice to change his seat.

    “The captain of the flight, who was eventually briefed on the development, also did everything to secure Mr. Aniagboso’s cooperation to no avail. At that point, our crew members were left with no other alternative than to advise Mr. Aniagboso to disembark to enable the flight depart.

    Read also: Air Peace orders 30 brand new E195-E2 jets in $2.1bn deal

    “It is important to state that only those who are able to clearly understand and express their willingness to perform their safety responsibility are allowed by aviation regulations to sit in the exit row. It is also clearly stated in the safety cards that only those who can speak English are allowed to sit in the exit row.

    “Also, all through his interaction with our ground staff, Mr. Aniagboso communicated in fluent English. His claim of not being able to communicate in English at the point of the safety briefing was, therefore, only meant to disrupt and delay the flight.

    “Air Peace takes pride in promoting the use of all local languages on board our flights without discrimination. We encourage our crew to speak the local language whenever it is possible to do so. But we do not allow passengers with ill-motive to disrupt our flights and endanger the safety of our esteemed customers and crew.”

    “Conducts with the potential of jeopardising the safety of our esteemed customers and crew are not welcome on any of our flights.”

  • Air Peace orders 30 brand new E195-E2 jets in $2.1bn deal

    Air Peace on Wednesday set a continental record with a firm order for 10 brand new Embraer 195-E2 aircraft.

    The deal, which was unveiled during Embraer Business Meeting with the Aviation World in Port Louis, Mauritius, makes Air Peace the first to order the brand of jets in the whole of Africa, thereby becoming the official launch customer of the brand of aircraft in Africa.

    The order comprises purchase rights for a further 20 E195-E2 jets. The aircraft is a 124 seater jet in dual class and 146-seater jet in single class configurations respectively.

    With all purchase rights exercised, the contract has a value of US$2.12 billion based on current list prices.

    The carrier also set a regional record in September 2018 when it ordered 10 brand new aircraft from Boeing, increasing its fleet size then to about 37 aircraft. With the new order, Air Peace’s fleet size has increased to 67 aircraft.

    Shortly before the firm order for 10 brand new aircraft from Boeing, Air Peace set a domestic record as the first Nigerian airline to acquire and register the Boeing 777 aircraft in the country.

    Three of the four wide-body aircraft it acquired for its long-haul operations to Dubai, Sharjah, Johannesburg, London, Houston, Guangzhou and Mumbai have so far been delivered.

    Speaking on the latest order in faraway Port Louis, Air Peace Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema said: “Embraer’s new E195-E2 presents us with a marvel of economic performance.

    “It’s also great that we will be the first E2 operator on the African continent. We already have the ERJ145s in our fleet, so we understand the high standards of Embraer products.”

    The E195-E2 aircraft, he said, would strengthen Air Peace’s drive to deploy the right kinds of aircraft to underserved and unserved domestic and regional routes under its no-city-left-behind project.

    READ ALSO: Air Peace gets two new captains

    Onyema thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for creating an enabling environment for the growth of aviation in Nigeria through waving customs duties on commercial aircraft, engines and spares as well as granting value-added tax (VAT) waiver.

    “Without these noble gestures from my President (Muhammadu Buhari),” he said, “Air Peace would not have been able to achieve this growth. Thank you very much, Mr. President”.

    Vice President Sales Africa, Embraer Commercial Aviation, Mr. Raul Villaron said: “Air Peace embodies the kind of pioneering spirit Embraer loves.

    “The airline was established to bring highly skilled work opportunities to the people of Nigeria, boosting connectivity, and therefore the economy, in the region.

    “Air Peace has delivered on both aims, while at the same time developing a fast-growing successful airline. It’s great to have them on board.”

  • Air Peace gets two new captains

    Air Peace has elevated two  its flight crew members to the rank of captain. They are Mr. Oluwasegun Fatonade and Mr. William Devine.

    It urged them to sustain the high safety standards of the carrier.

    Speaking during the decoration of Fatonade and Devine at Air Peace Corporate Headquarters in Lagos, the carrier’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema, said he was proud that they scaled the tough tests for donning the four-bar epaulette.

    The rigorous requirements the new captains were subjected to, he insisted, were necessary to ensure they were qualified for the high quality of the airline’s flight operations.

    He assured that Air Peace will continue to reward excellence as a pro-staff organisation and ensure that its workers were promoted without regard to ethnicity and favouritism.

    “I’m one of the happiest persons today. I take pride in seeing people grow. We are pro-staff. In our own little way, we try to ensure that staff enjoy their time here. Anyone can become anything they want to be here without discrimination.

    “I don’t meddle in matters involving selection and elevation of our flight crew. It is strictly on merit. For the flight crew training team to have adjudged the new captains worthy of flying for Air Peace, they really must be good. It says a lot about their quality. The tough tests they passed through before being selected for elevation as captains was necessary to ensure the sustenance of the high standards of our flight operations.

    “It’s not everyone that was tested that made it. I urge the new captains to continue to work hard to sustain the high quality of our flight operations. The position of a captain is one that comes with huge responsibility, but I have no doubt they will excel in their new roles,” Onyema said.

  • Obiano canvasses flag carrier status for Air Peace

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) have congratulated Air Peace on the delivery of its third Boeing 777 aircraft.

    Obiano urged the Federal Government to Air Peace with a flag carrier status.

    Obiano, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, described Air Peace as Nigeria’s fastest growing and most ambitious airline in history.

    He said: “This is a more pragmatic step to take than the rumoured current attempt in some quarters to make the President Muhammadu Buhari administration establish a state-owned airline, despite the terrible record of Nigeria Airways and the government’s wise suspension of it last September.

    “There is no way any state-owned or promoted airline can enhance Nigeria’s reputation in the world that Air Peace is not doing, and will continue to do with greater efficiency and results.”

    Read also: Air Peace gets third B 777

    The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) said the airline’s third Boeing 777 aircraft would transform the experience of the travelling public.

    A March 28 congratulatory letter by NUATE president, Ben Nnabue addressed to Air Peace Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema, reads: “We believe that this new vessel will usher in a luxury experience to the travelling public as safety is already guaranteed.”

    Air Peace has so far acquired four Boeing 777 aircraft, three of which have been delivered. Since it commenced operations in 2014, the carrier has increased its fleet size to a total of about 37 aircraft.

  • 29 airlines lost 44,712 luggage last year, says report

    At least, 44,712 luggage were declared missing among 29 local and international airlines that operated within and into the nation’s airports last year, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said.

    In a report, Air France led the pack with 6,175 missing luggage on the international scene. Air Peace led the other eight indigenous carriers on the domestic scene with 66 missing baggage within the period under review.

    While 41,498 of the missing luggage were retrieved by their owners, the others could not.

    A further breakdown of the missing luggage indicated that on the international scene, apart from Air France with the 6,175 missing luggage, other airlines involved in missing luggage were KLM with 5,088, African World Airlines, 308; Air Cote d’Ivoire, 670; Air Namibia, 221; Arik Air, 172; Asky, 1,167; British Airways; 4,273, Cam Air-Co; 109; Cronos Air; one, Delta Air Lines; 3,473, Egypt Air; 2,448, Emirates; 1,725, Ethiopian Air; 1,946, Etihad; 472, Kenya; 1,152 and Lufthansa with 3,750 missing luggage.

    Others were Mediana; 218, Med-View; 25, Middle East; eight, Mid Africa; 112, Qatar Airways; 1,238, Royal Air Maroc; 2,624, RwandAir; 1,234, South African Airways; 762, Turkish Air; 4,348 and Virgin Atlantic had 1,166 missing luggage within the period.

    On the local scene out of the eight local airlines that operated within the period under review, seven out of them except Azman Air had issues of missing baggage in 2018.

    According to the report, Air Peace had 66 missing luggage with 63 of them recovered within the period. Arik Air recorded 59 missing luggage with 55 of them recovered.

    Also, Dana Air had 34 of its passengers missing with 32 recovered between January and last December, Aero Contractors had six missing luggage with all of them recovered within the period.

    Besides, Max Air recorded four missing luggage with all of them recovered. Med-View and Overland Airways also had two luggage of their passengers missing within the period, but were later recovered.

    In all, last year, 173 luggage were declared missing, but 164 of them were recovered with nine not returned to their owners, according to the report.

    The report further revealed that last year, there were at least 15,645 flights operated on international routes, another 59,818 flights were operated on the domestic routes.

    Besides, the report indicated that last year, no fewer than 734 flights were cancelled by airlines on international and local routes. Of these figures, 190 were cancelled on the international scene, and 544 occurred within the local airlines.

    In all, there were 85 air returns last year; 25 among international carriers and 60 among the local  airlines.

    According to NCAA, the  airlines recorded 70 overbookings between January and December, last year with international airlines recording 11; 59 of such occurred among the eight local carriers.

    The report further stated that air travellers on local and international scenes experienced 92 luggage pilfering across the airports with 63 of such recorded on the international scene and the others on the local scene.

    The regulatory agency’s report emphasised that in the past year, all the international airports in the country recorded a total 1,994,099 in-bound passengers and 2,084,980 out-bound passengers, bringing the number of international passengers to 4,079,079.

    On the local scene, there were 10,092,643 were in-bound and out-bound passengers. Of these numbers, 5,033,669 were in-bound passengers, and the others out-bound passengers.

    The record showed that all the airports recorded 14,171,722 passengers in the past year.

    NCAA stated that its Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) received 161 complaints from air travellers last year with 99 of such complaints resolved by the directorate.

    The breakdown indicated that the CPD received 74 complaints on the international scene and resolved 36. Of the 87 complaints received from the local  airlines, 63 were resolved.

  • Air Peace gets third B 777

    Air Peace has taken delivery of its third Boeing 777 aircraft.

    The airline’s latest bird touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, about 3:20pm last Wednesday.

    It was honoured with a spectacular water salute staged by men of the Fire Service Department of the Federal Airports of Authority of Nigeria, with a crowd of the carrier’s management and staff as well as aviation authorities and airline workers cheering ecstatically.

    Air Peace said the latest aircraft in its fleet was a big boost for its plans to soon start long-haul flight operations to Sharjah, Dubai, London, Houston, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg.

    Read also: Air Peace decorates two new captains

    Addressing reporters shortly after the aircraft marked with registration number 5N-BWI and named “Anuli Peggy Onyema” landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Air Peace Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Mr. Allen Onyema said the airline had proved beyond doubt that it was the face of the bright future of the country in the global aviation industry.

     

  • Criticism on Boeing 737 Max 8, misdirected – Air Peace

    Despite global criticism trailing the crash of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in the fleet of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, Chairman, Air Peace, Allen Onyema said on Wednesday that the carrier had no regrets placing order for the aircraft type.

    Onyema said the airline took the steps to order the airplanes in response to the yearnings of Nigerians desiring to fly new airplanes.

    Onyema said it was unfortunate that Nigerians were criticising Air Peace for ordering 10 aircraft of similar models.

    He said: “When we placed a firm order for the 10 brand new B737-Max 800, it was the toast of the global aviation industry.

    “We were only responding to the yearnings that Nigeria airlines should be flying modern planes.

    “It is unfortunate that Air Peace is being criticised for an aircraft that will not be delivered until 2023.

    “We believe it is the work of our detractors, but we will not be deterred,” he said.

    The US government has ordered a review of the way Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft got its licence to fly.

    It comes after two crashes in five months, amid suggestions from experts that there were “clear similarities” between the disasters.

    Transport secretary Elaine Chao has asked the US inspector general to audit the aircraft’s certification process.

    One focus of crash investigators has been the Max’s anti-stall system, which Boeing says needs a software update.

    Read also: Air Peace takes delivery of third B777 aircraft

    In a memo to inspector general Calvin Scovel, Ms Chao said she wanted the review in order to “assist the Federal Aviation Administration [the regulator] in ensuring that its safety procedures are implemented effectively”.

    After the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft last week – which followed a Lion Air disaster in October – there were questions about why the FAA took so long to ground the 737 Max.

    Meanwhile, Europe and Canada said they would seek their own assurances over the safety of the aircraft, a move likely to complicate plans to get the aircraft flying again across the world.

  • Air Peace takes delivery of third B777 aircraft

    A Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, has taken delivery of its third Boeing 777-300 aircraft in preparation for the airline’s commencement of international operations.

    The 374 capacity aircraft, christened: “Anuli Peggy Onyema”, touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 3.20p.m on Wednesday.

    The aircraft, from Texas, United States of America, was received by the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema and other top aviation personnel.

    Onyema told newsmen that Air Peace had taken delivery of its first and second B777 aircraft in February and August 2018 respectively.

    He added that one more aircraft was being expected before the end of the year to boost the airline’s international operations.

    According to him, the Federal Government has granted approval to Air Peace to begin flights to six international destinations, which are London, Dubai, Sharjah, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg.

    “We thank God that we have taken delivery of the third B777 aircraft in preparation for our international operations.

    Read also: Aviation group highlights risks in drone use

    “We hope to begin our flights to Dubai and Sharjah within the next two months.

    “From there, we will proceed to Johannesburg, Mumbai and Guangzhou in that order,” he said.

    Onyema said that Air Peace had created 3,000 direct jobs and 6,000 ancillary jobs for Nigerians, stressing that the newly acquired B777-300 aircraft would create an additional 1,500 jobs.

    He urged Nigerians and the Federal Government to continue to support the airline which was set up to put the country on the global aviation map.

    The Air Peace boss maintained that safety remains a core policy of the airline which had outsourced its aircraft maintenance to two internationally recognised firms, BCT Aviation of Britain and Aero Space Industries of Israel.

    On the recent air crash involving an Ethiopian Airlines B737-Max800 aircraft which killed all 157 people on board, Onyema said it was unfortunate that Nigerians were criticising Air Peace for ordering 10 aircraft of similar models.

    “When we placed a firm order for the 10 brand new B737-Max 800, it was the toast of the global aviation industry.

    “We were only responding to the yearnings that Nigeria airlines should be flying modern planes.

    “It is unfortunate that Air Peace is being criticised for an aircraft that will not be delivered until 2023.

    “We believe it is the work of our detractors, but we will not be deterred,” he said.

    Also, the Chief Pilot of the aircraft, Capt. Stan Went, said that B777-300 was a delight for both pilots and engineers, saying it has a very good safety record. (NAN)

  • ‘No plan to operate UAE flights from Port Harcourt Airport ‘

    Air Peace said  it is not planning to originate its flights to Sharjah and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    A statement signed by the carrier’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah, said it had not altered its plan to commence its Sharjah and Dubai services from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

    The Lagos airport, the airline insisted, was strategic to the launch of its international flight operations.

    Air Peace assured that arrangements for its long-haul flight services to Dubai, Sharjah, London, Houston, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg were nearing conclusion and the development would eventually give all parts of the country and West Africa a reliable alternative.

    “Our attention has been drawn to reports in the media claiming we planned to operate our flights to Sharjah and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. We wish to state that there is no truth in the reports and we urge members of the flying public to discountenance the claims.

    “Our plan to operate our Sharjah and Dubai services from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos remains unchanged. Our strategic plan is to commence our international flight operations from Lagos, with Sharjah and Dubai preceding other routes.

    “As we have variously promised, we will eventually expand our international operations to cover other cities and regions of Nigeria and even the West Coast of Africa. The goal ultimately is to leverage our broad domestic and regional route network in offering the flying public a reliable alternative. This will be clearer as our long-haul route network unfolds . But we envisage that the base of our international operations will remain the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, while mini-hubs will be created in the North, East and South of Nigeria and West Africa. “