By Emeka Alex Duru
As you read this, the management and staff of Nigeria and West Africa’s largest airline, Air Peace, are marking 11 years of the organisation’s impactful service to the country and humanity. As part of the activities headlining the event, the company will in the next 48 hours, Sunday, October 26, 2025, add the lucrative Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (IATA code ABV) and the London Heathrow (LHR) route to its network. It will also add the ABV – London Gatwick (LGW) route to its schedule. This will bring to three the number of UK destinations Air Peace will be flying into, in addition to its highly successful Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) Lagos to London Gatwick (LGW) route.
In preparation for the new routes, Air Peace had last August, received a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with registration number 5N-CEG, bringing to four the number of wide-body aircraft in its fleet. The upcoming London routes will increase the company’s share of passenger volume into London, a market that had for years been dominated by foreign “big players” in the aviation industry.
You can therefore understand why the celebration by the airline for 11 years of exceptional services, is not misplaced. There are other reasons for rolling out the carpet. In Nigeria’s aviation industry that has witnessed high attrition rate among practitioners, staying afloat and expanding the frontiers of operation, call for ululation. A quick glance at some of the airlines that have been forced out of operation, explains the volatility of the terrain. In 24 years, it has consumed 21 airlines that ventured into its space. These include Nigeria Airways, Albarka Air, Oriental Airlines, Discovery Air, Air Midwest, Okada Air, Zenith Air, EAS Airlines, NICON Airways, Med-View Airline, Space World Airlines, First Nation, Hak Air, Slok Air, IRS Airlines, Air Nigeria, ADC Airlines, Associated Aviation, Chanchangi, Sosoliso, Bellview and Virgin Nigeria. While some were downed by excessive regulatory demands, some were crippled by debilitating accidents and other occurrences. Air Peace, has however, continued to soar in essence and impacts.
The evolution is significant. If you liken it to the biblical Mustard Seed, you will not be wrong. According to the Holy Book, the Mustard is the smallest among the seeds in the basket but on germination and growth, turns out the octopus of a tree that dwarfs the others in the forest. Air Peace falls into the analogy. In 2014, the outfit began with a fleet of three (3) Dornier 328 aircraft for charter services and four (4) Boeing 737-500 aircraft with a capacity of 114 seats for both passenger and cargo services. With time, the need to increase the fleet to satisfy the flying public became apparent. Thus, between 2015 and 2017, the airline acquired eight (8) additional Boeing 737-300 aircraft, each with a capacity of 136 seats. Still pressured by members of the flying public to extend its services to many unserved and underserved domestic and regional routes, Air Peace procured six 50-seater Embraer 145 jets in 2018 to drive its ‘No-City-Left-Behind’ project under its subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper. From that humble record seven aircraft at its debut on October 24, 2014, Air Peace has grown to become not just Nigeria’s largest carrier but the biggest airline in West African subregion, carrying with it, a phenomenal story of vision and consistency. It is further soaring into international skies where it is spreading its wings. At the last count, the organisation has over 38 aircraft conveying passengers to 20 local destinations and 10 regional and international airports. The expansion continues as the company is set to add more international destinations to its impressive network. Earlier in the month, it had announced plans to start direct flights from West and Central Africa to the Caribbeans, effective December 21. Chairman/CEO of the airline, Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, while speaking on the anticipated international routes, enthused; “Air Peace will also begin direct flights from Lagos to São Paulo, Brazil; Lagos to Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. Its Lagos – Brazil direct flights will cut down on the number of hours passengers spend from Lagos to the Samba City to just seven and a half”. This is quite audacious and commendable.
The symbolism of its name, “Air Peace,” may have hands in its success story, aside hard work and resilience by the facilitators and grace of the Almighty God. In a continent where turbulence has too often defined both politics and economics, the airline has offered a sense of stability. With its commitment to safety and customer service, it has brought dignity back to Nigerian aviation sector. My article on the organisation, on Friday, September 26, 2025, titled, “Air Peace: Beyond the Dollar, Naira threshold”, was emphatic on the airline extending beyond the balance sheet, to profound corporate social responsibility. The assertion is not without reasons. At moments of tension and national emergencies, the airline has stood up as beacon of hope and pride. On occasions, it had evacuated stranded Nigerians caught in crisis – from South Africa, during xenophobic attacks; Sudan, in the heat of civil unrest –at no cost to the evacuees. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and 2020, Air Peace made Nigeria proud, flying the country’s flag, as it were, to bring medical supplies to the country and delivering also to other nations. Few airlines anywhere in the world wear that badge of social responsibility so boldly.
That same Nigeria Spirit resonated recently, when the organisation announced the creation of 1,000 fresh graduate jobs through its 2025/2026 Graduate Trainee Programme, in direct reciprocation of the Federal Government’s suspension of the 4% Free on Board (FOB) levy on imports. The programme is designed to equip young Nigerians with the skills, exposure, and mentorship required to thrive in aviation and allied industries, while also building a pipeline of competent professionals who will drive growth in the sector.
In a follow-up gesture, the company’s chairman, Onyema, disclosed that the airline, in collaboration with Embraer, one of the world’s major aircraft manufacturers, has completed plans to build a modern Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Lagos for the maintenance of single and double aisle commercial aircraft in Nigeria, West and Central Africa. When completed, the N32 billion facility would end taking out aircraft overseas for maintenance by Nigerian carriers. That will cut cost and reduce delays. The project will provide technical support while Nigerians will be trained to manage the facility. It will equally create more than 50,000 jobs. In a struggling economy as ours that is characterised by rising unemployment, youth restiveness and rising insecurity, the initiatives by the Air Peace chairman deserve celebration. It is also commendable that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is giving Air Peace the necessary encouragements to expand and blossom.
Thus, in its 11 years of operation, Air Peace has done quite well. What is required is for the founder, Allen Onyema and his team to consolidate on the successes recorded by the airline, guard against deviation from its mission statement, listen to and learn from observations by its critical stakeholders and ensure that the company keeps expanding its horizon of operations.
DURU is the Editor, TheNiche Online Newspapers, Lagos (08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)