Ime Akpan
The chairman and chief executive officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema has debunked insinuations that the airline was buying aircraft for the fun of it.
He stated this at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos when the airline received its third Boeing 777 aircraft, after taking delivery of the same aircraft types christened ‘Ifechukwu’ and ‘Ojochide’ on February 23, 2018 and August 25, 2018 respectively.
Onyema said the carrier had proved beyond doubt that it “is the face of the bright future of Nigeria in the global aviation industry.”
He said the airline “is strategically increasing the number of aircraft to be deployed for its long-haul operations to ensure quick and efficient recovery when any of the aircraft was out of service.
Onyema maintained that the airline had earned the respect of financial organisations and other critical stakeholders in the global aviation industry and assured that the entry of the new aircraft would create more jobs for Nigerians and others.
“I don’t think Air Peace is parking aircraft for fun. We brought in these aircraft to use them. We want to do this country very proud. We want to make every Nigerian proud of their own. Both the government and people of Nigeria have been complaining that there has never been any successful Nigerian airline. This is one airline out of Africa trying to do something different. All we need at this point in time is the support of everyone – both the government and people of Nigeria,” he said.
He also said the airline had created jobs for many Nigerians adding that the latest aircraft will create about 1, 500 jobs.
““I set up Air Peace in order to create jobs in a country with so much potential yet nothing to show for it. I and my wife just created this to give back to society. And that is very evident in the way we are running Air Peace. This particular aircraft will create at least another 1,500 jobs.
“Every Nigerian who is working takes care of about another 12 Nigerians. So, if I am going to employ 1,500 Nigerians because of the entry of this aircraft, it means this aircraft will be feeding 1,500 multiplied by 12 people daily. This airline is the biggest, not only in Nigeria, but the entire West Africa. This airline is respected worldwide.
“In Air Peace you have over 3,000 direct workers. We’ve created about 9,000 ancillary jobs in just four years of our operations. All we need is the continued support of the press, the government and the people of Nigeria. A lot of people are saying Nigerian airlines are poor, they are indebted, they don’t have integrity.
“Air Peace has integrity. All the banks in Nigeria want to work with Air Peace because of our integrity. All the banks outside Nigeria are looking towards Air Peace. They see Air Peace as an emerging force out of Africa and everybody wants to support it”, he said.
Onyema assured that the airline would offer Nigerians and other air travellers a dependable and comfortable alternative on the Sharjah, Dubai, London, Houston, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg routes.
He added that the airline would continue to sustain its high safety standards, deepen air connectivity and create massive direct and indirect job opportunities in all its areas of operation.
The latest Boeing aircraft is christened Anuli Peggy Onyema.
