Victor Ezeja
At a time when most airlines, especially on the domestic front are not having the best of times due to challenges in the operating environment, Air Peace has continued to record milestones of achievements in the aviation sector.
In less than a decade of operations, Air Peace has grown to become the largest flag carrier in not just Nigeria but the entire Sub-Saharan Africa.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelSince birthing the airline, the CEO, Allen Onyema, has not rested on his oars as he keeps evolving strategies, breaking grounds to move the company into becoming the leading Airline in entire Africa.
The airline, which started scheduled flight service in 2014 with seven aircraft, currently has 38 aircraft of different types (Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Dornier Do-328, Embraer E2, ERJ, etc.), in its fleet with an Average Fleet Age of 19 years.
It has also been on a continuous route expansion drive on both domestic regional and international destinations.
The airline stated that it has airlifted the highest number of passengers daily and operated the highest number of aircraft.
Recently, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Oluwatoyin Olajide, announced that the airline has airlifted over 55 million passengers in just eight years, which is considered a giant stride and a testament to the steady growth trajectory of the airline.
On what has been the key success factor, the airline’s Chief Operating Officer said they have always focused on strategically investing in “the right kind of aircraft, factoring business sustainability and customer experience while also hiring and training the best technical manpower to drive the process.”
READ ALSO: Why Air Peace Recorded 55m Passenger Airlifts In 8 Years
Key to the business success as stated by Olajide is having the right quality aircraft, having a strong human resource team, offering good customer service experience and creatively adapting to the business environment for sustainability.
In terms of aircraft, checks by Prime Business Africa revealed that among the domestic airlines operating in Nigeria, Air Peace could comfortably boast of having brand-new planes in its fleet.
In early 2021, the airline got delivery of the first of the 13 brand-new Embraer E195-E2 it placed orders for in April 2019 during the Embraer Business Meeting at Port Louis, Mauritius. Air Peace had in a statement then said it has “a Groundbreaking Business Cabin.”
According to a renowned Indian Aviation writer and commentator, Mr Pranjal Pande Air Peace became the first African Airline to take delivery of the E2 jet which has the unique feature of offering all passengers direct aisle access. “This allows passengers to enter and leave their seats without disturbing or needing to hop over their seat neighbours,” said Pande.
The aircraft was deployed to service regional routes.
In November 2022, the airline took delivery of two Airbus A320 aircraft increasing that brand to 10 in the fleet.
The airline spokesperson, Stanley Olisa then explained that the aircraft would be operated on both domestic and regional routes.
With the fleet size, the airline is still expecting more to be received based on its order to boost operations. “Now, we have 38 aircraft and are still expecting eight brand new Embraer 195-E2s from our firm order in 2019 and an additional 15 brand new Boeing 737 Max 8 and 10 Order, as we ramp up plans to strengthen our operations to serve our esteemed customers better,” Olajide stated, adding that they are also expecting the return of some of their aircraft undergoing maintenance overseas by the second quarter of this year.
Recall that sometime in 2020, Air Peace also launched the no-city-left-behind initiative with scheduled services into Yola, Jos, Minna, Calabar, Akure, Ibadan, Kebbi, Asaba and other domestic destinations. The goal was to penetrate the under-served and unserved domestic routes.
In July 2022, Air Peace began flight operations to Guangzhou, China, becoming the first Nigerian airline to fly into the Asian manufacturing hub with scheduled weekly flights.
In this 2023, the airline disclosed that it looks forward to launching London, Israel, India, Congo Kinshasa, Togo and Malabo routes, and also adding more flight frequencies to Monrovia, Freetown, Banjul and Dakar routes and more.
With the recent lifting of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on foreign travel by the Chinese authorities, there are indications that Air Peace and other airlines are making arrangements to restore commercial flights to all routes in the Asian country which has Great economic value to African nations.
Customer Relationship Management
On the side of customer services, Prime Business Africa’s check on all the airline’s social media channels shows prompt and lucid communication about its daily flight activities. For instance, with the onset of climate weather in recent times, which usually affects flights, Air Peace has been upbeat in using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., to communicate about rescheduling flights when it is practically impossible to fly.
While announcing such weather advisories the airline usually emphasises the safety of passengers as its main priority.
With the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Air Peace published on its website, a COVID-19 Travel advisory, furnishing travellers with details of safety recommendations by health bodies like Centres for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
