In a country where air travel was once a luxury for the few, a particular airline has democratized the skies and brought affordable air travel to the masses.
Air Peace is the unsung hero of Nigeria’s Aviation Industry, and its story is one of innovation, perseverance, and dedication to excellence. Air Peace was founded in 2014 by Nigerian businessman, Allen Onyema. The airline started its operations with Boeing 737s and Dornier 328s. Currently, Air Peace is the largest airline in West and Central Africa.
The Founder and CEO of Air Peace, Allen Ifechukwu Onyema is a Nigerian lawyer and entrepreneur who stated that he started the airline as a means of providing jobs and other economic opportunities for Nigerian youths.
Air Peace’s mission is to expand its network and provide safe, efficient, and affordable flights.
In fulfilling its mission, the airline is faced by several challenges from high operational costs due to fuel prices, insurance, interest rates, and foreign exchange rates to inconsistent government regulations and bureaucratic hurdles making it more difficult for Air Peace to expand internationally. Another formidable challenge faced by the airline was managing foreign exchange while aiming to set fares in naira to ease the strain on Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves.
Specifically, Air Peace faced a huge challenge in 2024 while trying to expand their operations to include the Lagos-London route. The airline faced several administrative hurdles occasioned by the efforts of British-based airlines to frustrate its quest to provide affordable international flights for Nigerians who seek to travel to London. Air Peace surmounted this incredible challenge with the help of top government officials such as the Minister of Aviation; Festus Keyamo.
Irrespective of the inexhaustible list of challenges faced by Air Peace in their bid to fulfill their mandate, they have continued to drive significant progress within the Nigerian Aviation Industry.
Air Peace has grown from a fleet of seven aircraft in 2014 to over 30 aircraft serving trips to over 20 domestic destinations in Nigeria, seven international routes, and 10 regional locations across Africa.
In 2017, Air Peace launched its first international route to Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. In March 2024, Air Peace operated its inaugural Lagos-London flight against all odds. It is worthy of mention that Air Peace is the only Nigerian-native airline with that opportunity at the moment.
As a result of this wave of progress, Air Peace’s expansion has created thousands of direct jobs and indirect employment opportunities. Air Peace’s lower fares also disrupted the market and forced other airlines to rethink their prices. This increased competition and provided relief to Nigerian travelers who suffered exploitative airfares. Additionally, Air Peace connects major cities in Nigeria and flies to other West African destinations, the Middle East, Asia and London.
Above all, Air Peace’s growth has helped to position Nigeria as a leader in aviation in the continent.
In recognition of the airline’s contribution to Aviation in Nigeria and beyond, Air Peace secured its sixth IOSA certification in 2024, which sets a new standard for safety in African aviation. Air Peace also won the “Outstanding Brand of the Year” award at the Marketing Edge Awards 2024. The CEO; Dr. Allen Onyema was also honored as “Brand Personality of the Year”.
Despite all these, Air Peace has expressed its dedication to continual progress within the Nigerian Aviation sector. The CEO stated in an interview that the airline has over 26 aircrafts on firm order in furtherance of their commitment to expand their aviatorial reach while creating more job opportunities for Nigerians.
Without further ado, it is conclusive that Air Peace, having made such landmark contributions to Nigerian Air travel, is set for unimaginable progress in fulfilling its mission of providing affordable air travel for Nigerians within and without the country.
This is more affirmative as the Founder/CEO of Air Peace acknowledges that the airline is unable to achieve all these without the support and contributions of Nigerians.
Deborah Anyanwu is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper.
