Management of Air Peace has described, as false, comments of the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika during a live programme on Arise TV.
Extolling Ethiopian Airlines, the Katsina-born former minister told the television that Air Peace rented “two Boeing 777” aircraft on a monthly lease of $250,000.
He further claimed that Air Peace “parked the aircraft for several months, and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft engines and landing gears became due for replacement…”
But the airline countered Sirika in a statement released by Toyin Olajide, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace.
“This is a blatant lie as we have three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft, which were never leased or rented but were purchased outrightly by the airline,” Olajide stated, adding the former minister was degenerating Air Peace while comparing it to Ethiopian Airlines.
She stressed further that the airline never incurred such a loss as they never paid rentals. “Air Peace never incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals, contrary to his lies,” Olajide said. “The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can attest to the purchase and ownership of the Aircraft by Air Peace.”
On the claim that the airline stopped UAE flight operations due to a lack of capacity, the chief operating officer of Air Peace stated that the operations stopped due to the flight ban on Nigerians by the UAE government.
The airline’s spokesman added: “Air Peace never stopped the Dubai operations because of a lack of capacity. Air Peace commenced operations into the UAE in July 2019, but in October 2022, the UAE Government announced a total visa ban on Nigerians.
“Neither Emirates nor Air Peace is operating the Nigerian/UAE route since the ban. The persisting non-issuance of visas and the accompanying inconveniences necessitated the suspension of our Dubai operations from November 22, 2022, till date.
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“How could an airline that placed a firm order for 13 brand new E2-195 aircraft, a firm order of 15 Boeing 737 Max 8 & Max 10, with over 30 aircraft already in its existing fleet be accused of lacking in capacity?
“How can an Airline that stood up for the entire nation during the Covid-19 outbreak, and embarked on rescue operations worldwide, evacuating Nigerians from far away China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, the UK and South Africa during the Covid-19 lockdowns be accused of lacking capacity?
“We implore the general public to disregard these lies told by the former minister of Aviation against Air Peace during the Arise TV Interview. We take serious exception to a situation where Airpeace is being misrepresented in the public sphere, causing wrong perceptions about our brand.“
