The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Air Peace

  • Air Peace dismisses prophecy of impending accident as fake

    Air Peace on Friday urged members of the public to ignore a recorded voice message warning them not to patronise the airline and some other air and land transport companies.

    The airline, in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr Chris Iwarah described the message as fake.

    “We would have loved to ignore the message so as not to dignify those behind it, however, we are compelled by the greater need to assure members of the public that the airline is adhering to all safety regulations.

    “It is a fake warning put out in the public space by criminal elements and people who do not mean well for the country, particularly airline operators, including Air Peace,’’ he said.

    According to him, the recorded warning has become a recurring, but futile and unproductive strategy by unpatriotic individuals to dissuade members of the flying public from patronising the airline.

    “Indeed, three years ago, the same faceless individuals recorded a similar message and started contacting us through fronts to make available some amounts of money to them to avert looming danger, which only exists in their imaginations.

    “Of course, we refused to yield to their threats and the dates they mentioned came and passed without a hitch,’’ he said.

    Iwarah disclosed that the airline also contacted Omega Fire Ministries, alleged to be the source of the trending voice message, and it denied being its source.

    According to him, the leader of the church, Apostle Johnson Suleiman denied the warning via his verified twitter account.

    “We, therefore, wish to reassure the general public that Air Peace is absolutely safe and operating strictly in line with global best practices in the aviation industry.

    “The voice warning should be ignored in its entirety, as it is a product of those who have deliberately put themselves at odds with success and safety,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the purported audio message was released on the social media, following Thursday’s accident on the Sir Michael Otedola Bridge in Lagos.

    Nine persons were reportedly killed and about 54 vehicles burnt in an inferno that occurred after a petrol tanker fell and spilled its content on the busy road at about 5.30 p.m.

    The audio message had warned members of the public not to travel out of Lagos on June 23, June 28, July 12, July 24, July 30 and Aug. 1, using the transport companies, claiming that they were “marked for blood’’.

  • 2018 Balafon awards for Calabar Carnival, Air Peace, Kempinski, others

    The winners of the 9th edition of the Balafon Award have emerged. Balafon Award of excellence is an annual award organised to recognise pioneers and best players in tourism in the ECOWAS region.

    The winners are selected via a select poll among practitioners and ratified by a board made of specialists in the media.

    The categories of the award and the winners are: Travel Personality of the Year in West Africa was won by Stella Fubara, Director, Africa Dubai Tourism;  Tourism Man of the Year in West Africa , Mrs. Uloma Egbuna, Managing Director, Tour Brokers International Nigeria.

    Others are  Aviation Man of the Year in West Africa was won by Captain Ado Sanusi, Managing Director, Aero; Hotel Personality of the Year in West Africa,  Malah Saleh  of Gambia; Best Airline in West Africa, Air Peace;   Best Hotel in West Africa-Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel, Accra, Ghana;  Best Airport in West Africa – Dakar International Airport Senegal;  Best Ground Handling Company in West Africa, Aviance;  Best Tourism Marketing Award West Africa – Ghana;  Tourism Event of the Year West Africa – Carnival Calabar;  Aviation Minister of the Year West Africa-Cecilia Dappah, Minister of Aviation, Ghana;  Tourism Minister of the Year in West Africa-,  Mrs  Catherine  Afeku, Minister of Tourism ,Culture and Creative Arts.

    The presentation of the award plagues will be at the 2018 Accra Weizo billed to start next week.

    Also, the organisers of Weizo have  announced the launch of a West African Travel and Tourism Association (WATTA), a  platform for the growth of seamless travel in the West African sub-region.  The interim board of WATTA will be announced and inaugurated at Accra Weizo on June 23 at La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra.

    Accra Weizo is one of the events geared towards getting West Africans to cooperate amongst themselves. West Africa is home to 15 countries of over 380 million people, but tourism and travel are not the strong suite of the economic interaction in the region.

    The region receives, among the lowest tourism figures per capita in Africa.

    With a huge Population and over 40 Airports Aviation is dominated by Companies from outside the Region Accra Weizo is a Travel event now in its 4th edition aimed at creating a seamless travel environment in West Africa. It brings together Travel professional in West Africa.

    Confirmed panellists for that session are Capt. Ado Sanusi –Managing Director of Nigeria’s oldest Airline Aero owners of the major MRO in the region, Chike Ogeah the Vice Chairman  SAHCOL a leading Nigerian Owned Aviation handling and Logistics company,  Alex Nwuba, CEO of Ghana based Smile Aviation and former CEO of Nigerian based Associated Airlines, Richard Kyereh from  Africa World Airlines the leading Airline in Ghana. Other Airlines Chief Executives are expected to join the panel.

  • Air Peace is Company of the Year

    Air Peace has won the Company of the Year Award 2017 of Leadership Group.

    The airline received the award weeks after it was recognised as a National Carrier of Repute at the yearly conference of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in Umuahia, Abia State, where six of its crew members were also honoured as Nigerian Crew Member of Repute.

    Leadership Group Limited Chairman, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, who spoke at the event in Abuja,   said Air Peace and other award recipients were selected for the honour on merit.

    He hailed the carrier and other awardees for making significant contributions to the economic development of the country, urging them to sustain the high standards they were reputed for.

    Meanwhile, Air Peace has dedicated the award to its customers, saying their huge support and patronage had been the pillars of its success since it commenced commercial flight operations more than three years ago.

    The airline assured that the award, which was received on its behalf by its Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, would spur it to deepen the quality of flight services.

  • Air Peace sets new record as B777 aircraft arrives

    Air Peace sets new record as B777 aircraft arrives

    Air Peace has set a new record with the arrival of its newly acquired Boeing B777-200 aircraft, becoming the first and only Nigerian airline to procure and register the brand of airliner in the country.

    The development is coming weeks after the airline took delivery of two Embraer 145 aircraft on January 31 and February 9 respectively and made history with setting up a subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper, to organise its short-haul operations in line with its no-city-left-behind project.

    The 274-capacity aircraft, which touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at about 3.45 pm last Friday, is the first of two Boeing 777 airliners Air Peace recently acquired in preparation for its Dubai, Sharjah, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg services.

    The airline is finalising talks to add two more B777 aircraft to its fleet soon.

    The aircraft with registration mark 5N-BVE bears “Ifechukwu”, the middle name of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema.

    The aircraft, which was flown in by the chief pilots of the airline, Captains Victor Egonu and Simon Donoghue, arrived to a rousing welcome by an excited team from Air Peace led by Onyema and enthusiastic crowd of top aviation personnel as well as security operatives.

    Speaking on the arrival of the aircraft, Onyema assured that Air Peace, which launched its Banjul, Freetown and Dakar services on February 19, will soon start flights to Dubai, Sharjah, Guangzhou-China, London, Houston, Mumbai and South Africa.

    The feats Air Peace had recorded in just three years of its flight operations, he insisted, were a proof that Nigerian airlines could compete with and even outperform the legacy airlines if there was a level-playing field.

    His words: “This is the first time a Nigerian carrier is acquiring a B777. What we have had in the past were through leases which were not favourable to the airline operators.

    “So, I don’t believe that Nigerian airlines cannot compete favourably with others. What we have been lacking is the necessary support.

    “Within the last three years, we have been able to increase our fleet size to 24 aircraft. That is rapid growth and we are still growing stronger.”

    Onyema dismissed insinuations that Nigerian airlines were not safe, stressing that Air Peace spent up to $2.5 million annually in maintaining a single aircraft on its fleet.

    The Air Peace boss said he remained opposed to the Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) initiative, insisting that Nigeria had little or nothing to gain from it.

    Onyema explained that most African airlines that would take advantage of the SAATM window to operate in the country lacked attractive destinations Nigerian airlines would reciprocally operate into.

    He added that some of the countries on the African continent were imposing high charges to discourage Nigerian airlines from operating into their routes.

     

  • Air Peace sets new record as B777 aircraft arrives

    Air Peace sets new record as B777 aircraft arrives

    Air Peace has set a new record with the arrival of its newly acquired Boeing B777-200 aircraft, becoming the first and only Nigerian airline to procure and register the brand of airliner in the country.

    The development is coming weeks after the airline took delivery of two Embraer 145 aircraft on January 31 and February 9 respectively and made history with the setting up a subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper to organise its short-haul operations in line with its no-city-left-behind project.

    The 274-capacity aircraft, which touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 3.45 pm on Friday, is the first of two Boeing 777 airliners Air Peace recently acquired in preparation for its Dubai, Sharjah, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg services. The airline is finalising talks to add two more B777 aircraft to its fleet soon.

    The aircraft with registration mark 5N-BVE bears “Ifechukwu”, the middle name of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema.

    The aircraft, which was flown in by the Chief Pilot of the airline, Capt. Victor Egonu and Capt. Simon Donoghue, arrived to a rousing welcome by an excited team from Air Peace led by Onyema and and enthusiastic crowd of top aviation personnel as well as security operatives.

    Speaking on the arrival of the aircraft, Onyema assured that Air Peace, which launched its its Banjul, Freetown and Dakar services on February 19, 2018 would soon start flights to Dubai, Sharjah, Guangzhou-China, London, Houston, Mumbai and South Africa.

    “Air Peace is ready to begin operations on these routes as soon as we get the cooperation of our aviation agencies, our home governments, and the outside governments of the countries we are going to. As soon as we get their cooperation, we will make it happen, ” Onyema said.

    Read Also:  Air Peace boss attributes High Safety Rating in Aviation to NCAA

    The feats Air Peace had recorded in just three years of its flight operations, he insisted, were a proof that Nigerian airlines could compete with and even outperform the legacy airlines if there was a level-playing field.

    His words: “This is the first time a Nigerian carrier is acquiring a B777. What we have had in the past were through leases which were not favourable to the airline operators. So, I don’t believe that Nigerian airlines cannot compete favourably with others. What we have been lacking is the necessary support.

    “Within the last three years, we have been able to increase our fleet size to 24 aircraft. That is rapid growth and we are still growing stronger.”

    Onyema dismissed insinuations that Nigerian airlines were not safe, stressing that Air Peace spent up to $2.5 million annually in maintaining a single aircraft on its fleet.

    “So,” he contended, “in terms of safety, we can assure our guests of the very best because even our technical partner is a firm from the United Kingdom.

    “Air Peace cannot be said to be weak or indebted and if there are airlines that are going through that, they should come out and name them instead of generalising.”

    The Air Peace boss said he remained opposed to the Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) initiative, insisting that Nigeria had little or nothing to gain from it.

    Onyema explained that most African airlines that would take advantage of the SAATM window to operate in the country lacked attractive destinations Nigerian airlines would reciprocally operate into.

    He added that some of the countries on the African continent were imposing high charges in a bid to discourage Nigerian airlines from operating into their routes.

  • Air Peace boss attributes High Safety Rating in Aviation to NCAA

    Air Peace boss attributes High Safety Rating in Aviation to NCAA

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema has said that Nigerian aviation industry has improved significantly in the area of safety over the years.

    Onyema however attributed this to the strict adherence to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended practices by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

    He said NCAA in the last four years under the management of the current Director General, Capt. Muhtar Usman has improved the safety rating of the Nigerian civil aviation industry.

    For instance, since the last accident involving Associated Aviation in 2013, there has not been any accident or major incident involving commercial airlines operating in Nigeria.

    According to Onyema, this explained why Nigeria has had successive ICAO and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audits with 96.4 percent pass mark for safety.

    “Talking about regulation, I think Nigerian airlines are well regulated. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is doing a wonderful job on that. It is not easy; sometimes you don’t feel comfortable with the way they are doing it but they have to do it. The kind of regulation NCAA brings to bear on Nigerian airlines cannot be compared to any other; even in advanced countries.

    “For instance, we had a bird strike on our first day in Kano and the pilot made air return back to the airport. We sent our British engineers to Kano to rescue the aircraft. Then we sent another aircraft to Abuja to go and airlift the passengers. Do you know that after the British engineers rectified it, NCAA insisted on being on the flight when we carried out a test flight? I was happy when I heard that,” Onyema said.

    On Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the Air Peace boss said that is no level playing field, which he said led to the outcry by the Nigerian airline operators.

    He said that currently the treaty does not favour Nigeria because other countries use high charges to discourage Nigerian airlines from operating to their cities, but when they come to Nigeria they pay relatively less charges than what they level against Nigerian carriers.

    Onyema remarked that what Nigerian airlines are demanding for is observation of principle of reciprocity by the federal government.

    He decried that most of African countries over charge Nigerian carriers but pay pittance as charges whenever they fly into the country.

    He also noted that Nigeria is a large market to these airlines; that while airlines from other African countries operate multiple flights daily to Nigeria; the country’s carriers can only operate once a day because these countries do not have the population and high number of air travellers.

    “When we say that this Single African Air Transport Market does not favour us, it is not because we cannot compete. It means that it does not favour us at this stage, except a level playing field is created. This is not only happening in Nigeria, when Emirates was eroding the US market, the airlines in America cried out and their government did something about it and put policies that tried to stunt the spread of the Gulf airlines into America.

    That is how it is supposed to be. Bombardier, Canada aircraft manufacturer came up with their new product, CS 300, which would have been competing vigorously with Boeing B737s, Boeing cried to their government and US came out with 300 per cent import duty on the Bombardier aircraft type. This is in order to protect their own. So we must try and protect our own in this country. If we don’t protect our own airlines they will continue to struggle.

  • How to deepen intra – country connectivity, by Air Peace

    How to deepen intra – country connectivity, by Air Peace

    …As airline flags off Lagos- Kano- Abuja – Kano flights

    Air Peace said on Monday that the commencement of flights on the Lagos – Kano – Abuja – Kano route will go a long way to deepen intra – connectivity for passengers who have found it difficult to move from one part of the country to another.

    This gap , the airline has been filled as it now operates scheduled flights on the Lagos – Kano – Abuja – Kano route.

    Speaking at the inaugural flight in Kano, Chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema said the carrier has fulfilled its promise to link all parts of the country by air to boost economic activities .

    Onyema said nightmares associated with delays, cancellation of flights on the Lagos and Abuja Kano routes will now be a thing of the past, as Air Peace is set to up the ante with new service.

    Onyema stated that the launch to Kano was a significant milestone in the Airline’s vision to unite Nigeria through air travel and lift the nation’s economy through trade facilitation and massive job creation.

    According to Onyema : “Today’s historic event accords with our strategy to expand our operation in the North of Nigeria and connect other un-served or under-served cities of the nation. Kano has long been recognized as the economic capital of the Northern Nigeria. We are therefore hopeful that the extension of our flight services to the state will greatly and positively impact on the economy of the region.”

    Onyema disclosed that the Kano launch would be followed with the commencement of flight operations to Yola in Adamawa State on February 15, and Freetown, Banjul, Dakar on February 19.

    He added that last year, the airline hugely expanded its capacity to serve the flying public with the increase of its fleet to size of 24 airplanes.
    The Air Peace Chairman also said on January 31 and February 8 the airline took delivery of two of the six Embraer 145 aircraft it recently acquired to serve cities with air transport difficulties under its new subsidiary, Airy Peace Hopper

    The airline, he stated is more positioned to transform air travel experience in Nigeria, West Africa sub region and beyond.
    In his words, “We are reputed for our time performance and uncompromising stand on matters of safety. We promise to leverage the experience of our skilled staff and excellent business model to end the era of endless delays on the Lagos–Kano-Lagos and Kano -Abuja-Kano routes.”

    He appealed for patronage and support as the airline operate twice daily from Lagos into Kano and back, once from Kano into Abuja and back and try to deliver a whole new extinction the Kano route.
    “We are determined to forge a mutually beneficial relationship with the good people and residents of Kano and its neighbouring states,” Onyema assured.

    On his part, the Regional Manager, Alhaji Muhammad Bello said that immediately the airline showed interest of flying into Kano.
    He assured the airline of the agency’s support and hope that the airline would sustain the flight on the route.

    Also speaking , Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi has stated that the Kano

    Emirate would continue to support Air Peace to succeed on the Lagos–Kano route.

    This is just as he advised the airline not to delay its passengers but ensure it sustains his operation with good service at all times.
    The Emir, who was represented by Jakadan Hausa, Alhaji Ibrahim Sambo spoke at a brief ceremony to mark the inaugural flight of Air Peace airline into Kano.

    He stated that there a very few airlines operating into Kano, adding that now that Air Peace is here , the people of Kano are very happy.
    According to him, “All the necessary support will be given to Air Peace to succeed. When Air Peace came to express its interest to fly to Kano, we made it a matter of importance to give them accommodation. We hope you will have affordable fare and also sustain this route.

  • Robbers attack plane on runway

    Robbers attack plane on runway

    A gang of robbers on Thursday night swooped on an Air Peace plane while preparing for takeoff at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

    The incident occurred at about 7.35 pm on Runway 18 Right (A1) of the airport, the airline said Friday.

    It said suspected bandits opened the cargo hold of the aircraft.

    Spokesman for the company, Chris Iwarah said the crew observed the development and insisted on thorough security of the Abuja – bound flight after the incident.

    Iwarah said the carrier’s crew acted in line with the high safety standards of the airline.

    He expressed appreciation to “all our wonderful guests on board Flight 7138 for their support, patience and cooperation throughout the precautionary security checks conducted by Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) squad, Federal Airport Authorities of Nigeria Aviation Security and our security team after suspected thieves opened the cargo hold of our aircraft.”

    Pilot-in-Command, Capt. Adesola Arasi was said to have contacted the control tower “when he was alerted by the light that came on in the cockpit suggesting that the cargo hold was opened for about 15 seconds and immediately shut.”

    He added: “In line with our high security standards and the huge value we place on the lives of our guests and crew, Capt. Arasi insisted on having EOD squad check Flight APK 7138 before takeoff to be doubly sure nothing was deposited in the cargo hold by the suspected thieves to endanger the lives of our guests and crew.

    “Our guests, who were fully briefed of the development by the pilot-in-command, were advised to disembark from the aircraft and board an Air Peace bus while the joint security operation by EOD, FAAN AVSEC and our security team lasted. The Lagos-Abuja flight was cleared by the security experts after exhaustive screening of the aircraft lasting about 30 minutes.

    “The flight eventually took off at 9.30pm and safely landed in Abuja at about 10.23pm. Our satisfied guests commended the professionalism of Capt. Arasi and his team as well as the high safety standards of Air Peace.”

  • Air Peace sets up subsidiary as new aircraft arrives

    Air Peace made history on Wednesday with the setting up of a subsidiary moments after taking delivery of one of the six 50-seater new generation  about 5.49 pm will operate under the carrier’s subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper.

    The development marks the first time a Nigerian airline would establish a subsidiary to manage an arm of its flight operations, following the tradition of some of the big carriers in the world.

    Air Peace  Chairman/CEO,  Allen Onyema described the arrival of the new aircraft as a milestone in the airline’s vision of uniting Nigeria through air connectivity and ending the travel nightmares of its many unserved and underserved cities.

    “The arrival of our latest new generation aircraft marked 5N-BUY has once again underscored our determination to bring Nigeria together through air connectivity and fix the air travel difficulties of many unserved and underserved cities in the country. We are even more pleased that the arrival of the aircraft marks the beginning of our subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper. Another of the six Embraer 145 jets we recently acquired will arrive in Nigeria in less than a week’s time.

     

  • Air Peace launches Kano, Yola flights Feb 12, 15

    Air Peace launches Kano, Yola flights Feb 12, 15

    Air Peace has announced plans to launch its Kano and Yola services on February 12 and 15 respectively. The services, the airline said, will cover Lagos-Kano-Lagos, Kano-Abuja-Kano, Lagos-Yola-Lagos and Abuja-Yola-Abuja.

    The carrier had earlier fixed February 19 for commencement of its flights from Lagos to Freetown in Sierra Leone, Banjul in The Gambia and Dakar in Senegal. 

    With the addition of Kano and Yola, the airline will be  launching five new routes in February alone.

    Air Peace, which also plans to start its flights to Dubai, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai  and Johannesburg this year, said it would operate both morning and evening flights from Lagos to Kano.

    A statement issued by the carrier’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said the new routes were a confirmation of the seriousness of its pledge to connect many domestic, regional and international destinations this year and make air travel seamless.

    “We are delighted to announce that Kano and Yola will be joining our fast-growing route network on February 12 and 15 respectively. The new routes will come on stream just days before the launch of our flights to Freetown, Banjul and Dakar. 

    “The huge expansion project is strategic to our vision to create dependable air connectivity and make travel experience seamless and comfortable. We are reputed for our on-time performance, uncompromising disposition to matters of safety, affordable quality service and excellent pro-customer orientation. 

    “These are the values we hope to bring to Kano, Yola and other routes we will be launching in the next few days. Importantly, we are not just expanding our route network, we are also massively growing our capacity in terms of equipment and human resources and positively impacting the economies of the states and countries we operate in.

    “In just three years of our flight operations, we have increased our fleet to a size of 24 aircraft and provided thousands of direct and indirect jobs. We have no doubt that our entry into Kano and Yola will not only solve the challenges of air travel in the North of Nigeria, but also greatly lift the economy of the region and transform the lives of the people,” Air Peace assured.         

    It added: “Our 6.40am and 5pm Lagos-Kano, 10.50am and 6.50pm Kano-Lagos, 8.30am Kano-Abuja and 10.20am Abuja-Kano flights were planned to ensure that our guests travelling to the three major cities for business and other reasons are able to conclude their transactions and still return to their places of residence.”