Victor EzejaIn less than a decade of operations, Air Peace has grown to become the largest flag carrier in not just Nigeria but entire Sub-Saharan Africa.
The airline which offers both scheduled passenger and charter flight services, flies to many cities in Nigeria and several international destinations in Africa, Asia and Middle East. Some of the routes include Accra, Freetown, Monrovia, Dakar, Banjul, Johannesburg, Dubai, and connects to about 23 other destinations.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelBeginning operations with Dornier 328s and Boeing 737 in 2013, the airline currently has 40 aircrafts of different types (Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Dornier Do-328, Embraer E2, ERJ, etc.) in its fleet, with Average Fleet Age of 19 years, according to information on Planet Plotters.net.
Becoming the leading airline in the sub-region in less than 10 years since it began operations is a no mean feat given the daunting challenges in the aviation sector not just in Nigeria where it originated, but globally. The success stories are no doubt linked to the uncommon innovative strategies deployed in the airline business by the founder and Chief Executive Officer, Barrister Alllen Onyema. Such strategies have seen him continue to break grounds and grow the fleet size to serve the airline’s increasing domestic and international routes in line with its expansionary goal.
In Nigeria, there are 10 domestic airlines but currently, only Air Peace could boast of brand new planes in its fleet. Such brands include E2 from Embraer, Airbus A320, Boeing B737, and more.
In 2021, Air Peace was among top five airlines that operated international flights from Nigeria. Others, according to an independent research carried out by the organisers of Jabamah Travelers Award, were Africa World Airlines, Germany’s Lufthansa Air, Turkish Airline and British Airways.
In July 2022, Air Peace began flight operations to Guangzhou, China, becoming the first Nigerian airline to fly into the Asian country with scheduled weekly flights.
The airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Oluwatoyin Olajide, had during the inaugural flight ceremony on July 13, 2022, revealed that the company had plans to also extend its wings to Mumbai, India, and Tel Aviv, Israel.
In 2022, the airline reportedly operated over 700 international flights, transporting over 65,000 passengers.
At the domestic front, its total flights in 2021 hit 17,861, while it managed to keep its delayed flights at 55 per cent of total 9900 flights.
The airline’s resumption of flight to Uyo earlier this month, set the stage for more competition as it pegged its air fare at N50,000 against that of Ibom Air’s N80,000.
As we move into 2022, the airline continues with its quest for international expansion.
The Air Peace boss, Allen Onyema, in a media interview recently, complained that foreign airlines are given preferential treatment while domestic ones operate under harsh circumstances.
He urged the aviation regulatory authorities in Nigeria to extend fair treatment to all and also address other challenges like scarcity of aviation fuel.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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