- Photo caption : 3rd from left, Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema and travel agents in a group photograph at the airline’s travel agents forum for the London launch today in Lagos.
…To Operate With Boeing 777, 787 Aircraft
The Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema has stated that it will unveil a special fares for students travelling to study that is affordable and pocket friendly when it commences flight operations on the London route on March 30,2024.
Onyema made this known today, Thursday at the airline’s travel agents forum for the London launch at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
He called on travel agents to manage the special student fares to prevent abuse by passengers, as according to him these fares will make it easy and affordable for students to travel during holidays and school resumption period.
According to him, Several parents have been disconnected from their children. Many students have not been home for over two years because their parents cannot afford return fares to London. Parents will no longer suffer to raise money for fares for their children because the student fares will be affordable for all parents.”
My children all schooled abroad and we insist that they return to Nigeria during their school breaks no matter how short. This is to enable us to remain connected to our children and ensure they stick to our values and culture. I know this is also the desire of several other parents but this desire has been cut short because of high fares,” he added.
This narrative, the Air Peace Chairman said, will change as soon as Air Peace resumes flights to London.
On the decision to operate into the London route, he posited that the Air Peace London route was borne out of his love for Nigeria and to put an end to high fares from Nigeria to London and back.
In his words, “I am not interested in politics. This is not about going to London. It is about giving Nigerians the best option and yielding to the yearnings of Nigerians. I set up Air Peace to create jobs for Nigerians
He said that fares Air Peace will charge on the London route will be cheaper than what legacy airlines are charging but did not state any amount.
However, investigation shows that at the moment the cheapest economy class return ticket from Nigeria to London is about N1.6million.
Investigation further revealed that in the last two years fares have risen by over 400 per cent due to trapped fund issues experienced by foreign airlines necessitated by inability to access forex and its skyrocketing rates.
Similarly, international airlines had in the last two years blocked low ticket inventories, leaving potential passengers with no option than to go for the high inventories to be sold in naira only while the low ticket inventories on most airlines’ websites can only be bought with dollar cards only.
It was a safe gap measure by airlines to ameliorate the effect of their trapped funds in Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Airlines and Passengers’ Joint Committee (APJC) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Bankole Bernard at the gathering welcomed the Air Peace London flight, adding that the airline will now create a balance of trade which is not tilted to one side.
According to him, “There will be a bit of balance. Air Peace has been given a daily slot to Gatwick which amounts to seven frequencies, compared to 21 frequencies that the legacy airlines have; 14 in Lagos and seven in Abuja. To an extent, we have something that will balance it up.
“Air Peace is not going to be faced with challenges of foreign exchange challenges because the fares will be in naira. It is a welcome idea for travel agents and Nigeria as a whole. We appeal to Air Peace to try its best to sustain the London route. We are willing to give them all the support to ensure this is successful. With Air Peace, travel agents envisage a 50 per cent fare reduction,” Bernard said.
On her part, Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace, Oluwatoyin Olajide, said that the London route means a lot to Air Peace for several reasons and a major one is that it marks its historic entry into the European continent.
She said that the service will be operated with the airline’s Boeing 777 aircraft and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, one of the most modern and efficient aircraft in the skies.
The airline, she said, will be launching with special promo fares and attractive plans for agents.
“Operating daily, this service will also offer several other benefits which give Air Peace an edge over the competition. It’s a direct flight without stop-overs and offers unbeatable fares. The specifics of these offers and other Unique Selling Points will be presented as this engagement progresses.
Air Peace’s operational expansion and milestones, she said, are driven by its ambition to continually connect cities and ease the burden of air travel as it fosters economic prosperity across countries.
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