The Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recognizes Air Peace as the Nigerian flag carrier on the profitable Lagos-Dubai air route, a Nigerian envoy announced on Sunday in Dubai.
“Air Peace is now recognised as a national carrier, based on the BASA and whatever the airline is doing will be linked to Nigeria,’’ Mr Mohammed Rimi, Nigerian Ambassador to the UAE, announced at a ceremony that Air Peace would be officially welcomed to the Arab nation.
However, he advised the airline to prevent anything that could tarnish Nigeria’s image while servicing the path, advising the airline to maintain trust and patronage in ensuring on-time flight services.
The Nigeria News Agency (NAN) reports that on July 5, Air Peace began flight activities from Lagos to Dubai on its way to Dubai’s Sharjah International Airport.
The ambassador recalled that, owing to competition and other factors, some Nigerian airlines had earlier served the Dubai route but were unable to maintain their activities.
Mr Rimi ensured Nigeria was eager to fulfill the conditions of its BASA deal with the UAE, but pointed out that Nigeria still had four slots to serve in the Middle East air services agreement.
Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema said the airline’s long-haul flight foray was intended to connect Nigeria to the globe and create employment for its vibrant population.
“In less than four years, Air Peace has created 3,000 direct jobs and over 9,000 ancillary jobs for Nigerians and that is what is driving us.
“We believe that if more Nigerians are meaningfully engaged, the problem of kidnapping, militancy and ethnic violent clashes will reduce in our country.”
The airline aims to raise its B777 aircraft deployed for long-haul flights to six before the end of the year in order to accommodate more paths, according to Mr Onyema.
He said flights would arrive from Lagos to Johannesburg before the end of August, while routes from Guangzhou, Mumbai, London and Houston were also anticipated.
Mr Onyema said Nigeria’s BASA was one-sided with the UAE and other nations, leaving Nigeria open to international airlines ‘ exploitation.
He said the federal government should safeguard national carriers by stopping international airlines from having multiple entry points.
The Air Peace boss praised the federal government for the airlines ‘ assistance, citing the removal of value-added tax and waivers on aircraft spare parts.
He also thanked Nigerians for supporting the airline that saw it emerge as West Africa’s largest airline. (NAN)