The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, has stated that the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’ administration, made it easy for Nigerian airlines to challenge the status quo on international air routes.
Onyema said this on Friday when he used the opportunity to deliver the keynote speech during the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) annual induction ceremony for its new members, to correct wrong media reports about how Air Peace secured its London route.
He said, “This federal government has made it easy for Nigerian airlines to challenge the status quo.”
He also clarified wrong and contradictory reportage in some Nigerian newspapers on how the British government hindered, facilitated Air Peace’s London flight.
Onyema said, “These days they like misquoting me. Just on Saturday (Thursday), I woke up very enraged.
“I saw a new story quoting me from an event we had in Abuja on Tuesday that ‘British government prevented Air Peace from getting to London for seven years, says Onyema.’ I never said that.
“The same newspaper published on Tuesday: Thanks British Government for Supporting Air Peace.
“You can see an effort to cause mischief.”
But he clarified that “first of all, the Nigeria government under President Tinubu did everything they could do to support this airline and I am very grateful to him.
“Nigeria government at a time threatened that if Air Peace was not given the right to go to London that something would happen in return.”
He also added that at the same time, “I said that the present British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. John Baxter, is a diplomat par excellence and that he has made it possible for our operations to move very seamlessly, with comfort.
“But the next thing we saw the following morning was that only the British government helped Air Peace, making it look like the federal government was dumb.”
He continued that on Thursday again the same newspaper published “Onyema: British Government Prevented Air Peace for 7 Years from coming to the UK.”
“I cannot understand this kind of junk journalism. But it was deliberate.
“I am sure that majority of Nigerians are happy that the entry of Air Peace into the international route has crashed airfares.
“However, you have people in the minority who are negative.
“But all their efforts will be in futility in Jesus name.”
He added that “Air Peace is proud to be Nigeria’s flag-bearer and the only indigenous airline currently connecting Nigeria directly to the United Kingdom.”
Onyema also said that the Nigerian public needed education on aviation etiquette education because they are making it difficult for airlines to serve them well.
Referring to an incident when a passenger, Mr. Wasiu Ayinde, a.k.a. KWAM 1, barricaded an aircraft recently from taking off in Abuja, Onyema said that the situation would have been very tragic if it had been 737 aircraft.
According to him, “all those people around it would have been sucked by its engine and you will see human beings going as sand through the exhaust flow. It is only God that saved this country on that day.”
He also pointed out that it is not the responsibility of airlines to cater for passengers when weather is the cause of flight delay or cancellation.
He said, “It is not the duty of the airline to fix you. It is your duty. The airline will tell you to go and reschedule your flight to the next available date because the airline did not create the bad weather.
“But Nigerian passengers will tell you that you must keep them in a hotel.
“Again, the moment you cancel a flight, the passengers of the cancelled flight will think that they must be the first people you will carry tomorrow. They will force you and if you do not, they will barricade everywhere the next day.”
He pointed out that every airline runs scheduled operations and not chartered operations, which means that the schedules have been fixed for weeks and months.
“If in the morning you disrupt one aircraft to fly people that did not flew on Friday because of bad weather, you have disrupted eight flights because you are meddling and messing up the day’s schedules.
“Remember that majority of Nigerian airports are sunset airports, meaning that you cannot land in them after 6.30p.m. It is only Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt that we have 24 hours flight.
“That is why we delay those ones to recover the other airports. But people do not know this and what the airlines go through to fly them.”
The President of NBCC, Mr. Abimbola Olashore, in his welcome address said that “it gives me great joy and a deep sense of pride to welcome you all to this Members’ Evening and Induction Ceremony. It is a defining moment where we pause to reflect on the legacy of our chamber while also embracing the future with renewed energy, fresh ideas, and stronger partnerships.
“To our new inductees, I extend my warmest congratulations and a heartfelt welcome. By joining the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, you are taking a bold step into a community that values excellence, integrity, and impact.”
Dike Onwuamaeze
Follow us on:
