An incident involving an Air Peace aircraft occurred on Tuesday night at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, where ground equipment operated by the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) caused significant damage to the plane.

As a result, several scheduled flight services may experience delays, and some may be cancelled while the airline works to adjust its fleet to mitigate the disruption.

Air Peace confirmed that one of its Airbus A320 aircraft was damaged on the ground on July 14, 2026, after a NAHCO baggage conveyor belt vehicle crashed into the aircraft’s engine shortly after the completion of Flight P47427 from Kano and the safe disembarkation of passengers.

In an official statement issued by Air Peace at the early hours of Wednesday, signed by the management, the airline stated “the ground handling equipment belonging to and operated by NAHCO tore into the aircraft and, as such, rendered the aircraft totally unserviceable”.

“This unfortunate incident has significantly impacted our operations, as the aircraft was rostered to operate multiple flights within our network over the coming days”.

“Consequently, several scheduled services will experience delays, while some may regrettably be cancelled as we work to mitigate the disruption through fleet adjustments”.

Apologising to their passengers whose travel plans may be affected by the incident, Air Peace added “our operational and customer service teams are actively working to minimise the inconvenience by providing available alternatives and ensuring that affected passengers receive the necessary assistance”.

“At Air Peace, the safety of our passengers, crew, and equipment remains our highest priority. We are working closely with the relevant ground handling company and aviation authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and prevent a recurrence”, the statement added. (Nigerian Tribune)

Update news