Air Peace on Sunday evacuated about 274 Israelis from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Tel-Aviv.
The flight, which airlifted 65 passengers from Lagos and 209 passengers from Abuja, was operated with a Boeing 777-300 marked 5N-BWI.
Commenting on the exercise, the chairman and chief executive officer of the airline, Mr. Allen Onyema, said it was it was the first time Nigeria and Israel would have a direct flight.
He expressed the hope that subsequently the two countries would have scheduled direct flights between Lagos and Tel-Aviv.
“It is a historic day for both Nigeria and Israel. History has been made today. 60 years of diplomatic relations, no direct flight has been conducted between Nigeria and Israel till today. So this is the first time Nigeria and Israel will have direct air connectivity. So it is a historic day and it is going to portend greater things that will come.
“Both countries have a lot to gain by having direct flights. Nigeria is a land of huge potential, which Israel may be willing to tap into, while Nigeria will want to tap into science and technology, which Israel is known form,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to the federal government for making the flight possible.
“Previous administrations were unable to pull this through, but this government did it. We have a compassionate government; that I can tell you. It is difficult to get flight permits even during this critical period of emergencies from other countries, but Nigeria did not waste a second to approve this flight.
“The minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika approved the request the moment it was presented to him. All the heads of aviation agencies gave their support, which made the flight possible. So it is the federal government that made the evacuation possible,” he added.
Onyema further said the Israeli government also gave its support and allowed for the first time a Nigerian airline to operate direct flight to the Israel.
“This is something good for both countries, good for our diplomatic relations.
“So I feel proud, I fell privileged to be part of this history and I thank God almighty for it. We have to build from here now going forward,” he said.
He expressed the optimism that when the coronavirus pandemic rolls away, “we look forward to do scheduled direct flight to Israel; at least twice a week to Tel-Aviv” adding “this will help boost business relations between both countries.”
“So there is a lot to be gained instead of people going through different countries before getting to Israel. For Israelis to get to their country they spend about 18 hours for just about five hours flight from Nigeria.
“They were happy and clapping for the Nigerian government and for the Israeli government for making this happen today. So I say kudos to the Buhari administration for making this come through,” he said.
In his remarks, the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Shimon Ben-Shoshan expressed happiness for the successful evacuation of his country’s citizens from Nigeria and commended Onyema for his “invaluable contribution in making the airlift possible.
“Thank you so much for this cooperation with us. We will work together. During this operation I will work with you hand by hand. I can say that you are the darling of the Nigerian people but you are my hero. Thank you so much.”
The Air Peace station manager at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Lenard Olisakwe said he was delighted that Israel chose a Nigerian airline to evacuate its citizens
“It is not easy to be patronised by Israelis who are highly security conscious. Having to say, ‘yes I am handing over the lives of my citizens to a particular airline is a big one.’
“I was excited too because for them to choose Air Peace they must have done a lot of homework because they are not frivolous people,” he said.
