By KEMI KASUMU
President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Susan Akporiaye, called for consistency from Air Peace, saying the citizenry cannot continue to depend on foreign airlines for their travels to London. She said: “It keeps the money in Nigeria.”
Nigeria’s many years of worry over absence of a national carrier in the aviation sector may have finally subsided with Saturday’s inaugural direct flight of Air Peace from the country to the United Kingdom successfully landing at the Gatwick Airport in London.
Nigerians commended the airline for its successful inaugural flight from Lagos to London on Saturday, March 30, 2024, with 260 passengers marking the resumption of flights by an indigenous carrier to one of the most lucrative routes from the country since 2019.
The airline, which operated a 274-seat capacity Boeing 777 for the maiden flight, held a brief ceremony at the Muhammed International Airport (New Terminal) to celebrate the occasion.
Some of the dignitaries present at the occasion include the Minister of aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, acting Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, the Chairman and CEO of United Nigeria Airlines, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), former Director General of NCAA, Board Member of Air Peace, Benedict Adeyileka and many others.
Many of the passengers on the Air Peace flight to London said the flight was long awaited and it signaled a new dawn in the travel industry in Nigeria, adding that Air Peace is a Nigerian project and Nigerians should be commended for making this possible.
“It’s a new dawn for travellers. We are tired of exploitative fares charged by foreign carriers. Air Peace is changing the narrative to air travel with this maiden flight.
“We see that fares are gradually reducing since Air Peace announced flight to London. This is good for air travel and Nigeria,” Tony Ike, a passenger on the flight said.
The Nigerian airline, for the first time in seven years, has thus reactivated the famous Lagos to London route, bringing succour to Nigerians and with that, Air Peace has joined a couple of indigenous carriers that operated in the busy route for commercial activities.
The DEFENDER reports that before Air Peace, some local airlines had operated to London, recording varying degrees of success notably among them the defunct Virgin Nigeria, with an Airbus A340-300 aircraft, which started the lucrative route on June 28, 2005, but terminated operations four years after.
On December 15, 2008, Arik Air also began international operations to London-Heathrow, using an Airbus A340-500 aircraft wet-leased from Hi Fly. Despite initial promise, Arik Air faced financial difficulties and discontinued its London services while under the receivership of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
In 2017, Med-View Airline became the last indigenous carrier to operate on the route.
It is against this background that stakeholders, who voiced their confidence in the capacity of Air Peace to sustain the route for years to come, identified crucial operational measures that the airline must put in place to record long-term success.
According to a media report on Saturday, Principal Managing Partner at Avaero Capital Partners, Sindy Foster, who expressed excitement over the Air Peace successful inaugural Lagos-London flight, said it was long overdue for a Nigerian airline to operate in the London route.
She said, “The Bilateral Air Service Agreement, BASA, between UK and Nigeria has been lopsided for too long. This isn’t just beneficial to the aviation industry, the reduction in fares, by increased capacity and competition, is beneficial for passengers. A Nigerian airline flying this route will also be beneficial for the Nigerian economy.”
Foster, however, warned that international routes are very costly and there is no room for financial errors, stressing that all costs and revenues need to be optimised.
Specifically speakibg to Saturday aided, she said, “Service is a product differentiator, and a high level of service, both inflight service and across operational services, are highly regarded by passengers. Air Peace has entered into a very competitive market and it would need to operate to an international standard in every aspect of its operations, it requires an elevation of standards.”
While expressing unhappiness that passengers complain about unfair and unequal treatment when they travel by foreign airlines, she said: “Now, they get a chance to experience true Nigerian hospitality. The expectation is that it will be better than they have experienced before. Unfortunately, we all know Air Peace will not be given the same latitude as is given to other airlines. Other airlines around the world delay, cancel and reschedule flights, but when a Nigerian airline does the same thing, people complain louder. Any new route has teething problems, but my belief is that Air Peace is prepared to maintain this route and deliver exceptional service to all of their customers.”
An aviation management consultant, Mr Babatunde Adeniji, on his part, urged Air Peace to broaden its management to enable it succeed on the route. Adeniji said: “Air Peace needs to broaden and deepen its management, staffing and organisation and excel at its local operations as a do or die first step. This should be the bedrock of its international foray.”
According to him, Nigeria, in terms of aviation, should be leading in Africa. “I can imagine if Virgin Nigeria and Arik Air were still operating as initially envisioned by their promoters. Anything less than to be leaders in Africa in the medium to long term is, to me, beneath our huge potential. We, however, need to put our house in order in the Nigeria ecosystem first,” he told Saturday Vanguard Aviation.
Adeniji, who stressed that he doesn’t know the terms of Air Peace’s wet lease deal, said: “When added to the other operational costs it will incur, it may become increasingly difficult to sustain except if it is able to configure its pricing and cost position so unusually creative that it maintains enough margin for profit. It is extremely difficult, but who am I to think it is impossible?”
Meanwhile, President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, Susan Akporiaye, called for consistency from Air Peace, saying the citizenry cannot continue to depend on foreign airlines for their travels to London.
She said, “It keeps the money in Nigeria. The money stays here and we are able to use it for our development. It is different from foreign airlines that don’t keep the money here, but send it to their headquarters. And that is why we have this issue of trapped funds due to FX shortage.
“However, Air Peace is a Nigerian carrier. With this new route, I am very sure they will have more employment for Nigerians. For us travel agencies, it is also another opportunity to sell. This time, there won’t be any issue like restriction of inventory or exchange rate.
“With the scarcity of dollars that we have, we cannot continue to depend on foreign businesses and products. The high dependence on these products is one of the reasons the Naira is falling against the dollar. By the time there is an awareness campaign on patronising made in Nigeria goods and businesses, there will be low demand for dollars.
“However, what we want Air Peace to do is to be consistent. And on our part, we will keep telling Nigerians to please give Air Peace a chance. If there are little issues here and there, they are just teething problems.
“Nigerians need to understand that new things experience teething problems. Let us give Air Peace a chance. Let us not use the opportunity of a mistake they make to crucify them because it won’t help matters. If we notice a mistake, let us send them an email.
“As we tell them about their mistakes, we should also encourage them. Again, let us give them a chance because it is one of the ways by which we can strengthen our local economy and make the Naira gain over the dollar,” she explained.
