Air Peace is a private Nigerian airline founded in 2013 with its head office in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. Air Peace is a flag carrier and largest airline of Nigeria and West Africa. Air Peace, which provides passenger and charter services, serves the major cities of Nigeria and flies to several West African destinations and the Middle East. The airline also established a subsidiary - Air Peace Hopper in 2018.
Air Peace was founded in 2013 by Nigerian lawyer and businessman Allen Onyema. Onyema claims that he started the airline with the intention of using it as an engine to provide economic opportunities to Nigerian youth. The airline began operations with Dornier 328s and Boeing 737s. In 2017, the first international route to Accra in Ghana was launched. By 2018, Air Peace had the largest market share in the domestic airline market in Nigeria. The airline took delivery of Boeing 777s in 2018, and commenced flights to Sharjah in 2019. Flights to Johannesburg commenced in 2020.
Following an outbreak of xenophobic violence against foreign nationals in South Africa in September 2019, Air Peace offered to evacuate Nigerian citizens for free. Over 300 persons took advantage of this offer by the airline and traveled on board specially chartered Boeing 777 flights from Johannesburg to Lagos.
In 2019, the US Department of Justice issued an indictment against Air Peace founder and CEO, Allen Onyema, on the grounds of money laundering and bank fraud. Onyema was accused of falsifying documents used for the purchase of aeroplanes for Air Peace and using those to fund purchases of luxury cars and high-end shopping. Onyema denies these allegations.
In December 2021, Air Peace indulged in a controversy with the General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE. As per the reports, the Emirates turned down the airlines' request for three slots instead of one at the Sharjah Airport, calling it "unreasonable". The UAE authorities said that Air Peace should consider flying the other two flights to any of the other airports in the country. However, Air Peace condemned the Emirati claims, accusing its officials of falsehood. The airline also called for an apology from the UAE, along with a retraction. Prior to issue, the Nigerian government had also cut down the slots of Dubai-based Emirates from 21 to one, following which the Emirates also suspended all its flights to Abuja and Lagos. The matter came as a threat to the diplomatic relations between the two countries. A diplomatic crisis was averted after Dubai Airports allocated slots at Dubai for Air Peace.
As of April 2021, Air Peace flies to the following destinations in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and United Arab Emirates.
On January 31, 2020, Air Peace announced two new destinations in India and Israel would be activated before the end of the year. Air Peace also operated ad hoc charter flights from Lagos to Montego Bay in Jamaica during the Christmas 2020 season.
As of January 2022, Air Peace's fleet consists of the following aircraft:
In April 2021, the Chief Operations Officer of Air Peace stated that 17 of their aircraft were grounded for maintenance reasons, thus reducing the carrier's operational fleet to just 8 aircraft.
In 2019, the Accident Investigation Bureau (Nigeria) accused Air Peace of persistent failure to report serious incidents and accidents involving its aircraft. Some issues cited by the AIB included failure to report incidents that resulted in structural damage, and erasure of Cockpit Voice Recorders prior to reporting incidents. The airline's management was cited for "willfully fail(ing) to comply" with the Bureau's regulations, and it was further stated that the management "lacks the full understanding of the statutory mandates".
Media related to Air Peace at Wikimedia Commons
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