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Allen Onyema, ChairmanCEO, Air Peace
The Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has said that the airline was prevented by British authorities from getting clearance to fly into London for seven years.
Onyema, while speaking yesterday in Abuja at an Air Peace Travel Agency forum to promote Abuja-London flight slated to commence in October, said he was initially given three slots to enter London, while British Airways was doing 21 frequencies, but after several pushes, it was increased to four
He said after getting the slots, the airline proceeded to apply for Third Country Operator (TCO), without which he could not fly into London, but was denied.
He said: “It took seven years before we heard anything from the British authorities. After I had made so much noise in the media, they wrote to Nigeria asking us to do some things. They also wrote to the CBN, and after eight months, when they didn’t hear anything from us, they wrote again, but unfortunately, the people who got the letter seized it.”
He said it took the intervention of President Bola Tinubu to ensure he got a smooth sail, saying: “The President saw me as a Nigerian and not an Igbo because it is the Nigerian passport I’m carrying and not an Igbo passport, and that is why I will keep defending the current administration.”
He, however, noted that the UK government was not the problem, stressing: “The UK loves Air Peace and we also love them and they are planning a grand welcome for us.”
The Air Peace boss added that the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, had also been marketing Nigeria’s airlines at the global stage and that the international financial institutions had been looking at helping Nigerian airlines.
He further commended the British Deputy High Commissioner, Tony Bakster, for providing the airline with all the needed assistance.
Onyema regretted that people were in doubt about their ability to do a six-hour flight to London when they were already doing a daily flight of 110, as at that time, and also flew to China for a whole year.
He urged the travel agents to be more patriotic, saying: “When you sell an Air Peace Abuja to London ticket, you are creating jobs and putting food on people’s tables.”
Meanwhile, the airline is scheduled to commence scheduled flights from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, to London Heathrow and Gatwick International Airport on October 26, 2025, a statement yesterday by the spokesman, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, revealed. (The Guardian)
