• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Ten days after, AirPeace sustains frequency, airfares to UAE

Lagos-Abuja bound Air Peace makes mid-air return after take-off 

Ten days after Nigeria’s largest carrier Air Peace commenced operations into Dubai via Sharjah, the airline has been able to sustain its frequency on the Lagos-Dubai routes as well as the airfares it started with.

The airline which commenced the new route on Friday, 5th of July, 2019 has continued to operate three times weekly to Sharjah; TuesDays, Fridays and Sundays, from only Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos offering passengers between N155,000 to N180,000 for a return ticket on the same route, while high-end airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways still costs between N310,000 to N400,000,  on the Lagos-Dubai routes.

The airline has also continued to make provision for a complementary bus to convey its passengers from Sharjah to Dubai which is within a space of 15 minutes. The airline is also leveraging its new aircraft, Boeing 777 aircraft; the same aircraft Emirate also uses to drive patronage on the route.

A travel agent who craved anonymity told BusinessDay that the airline is still seeing patronage to the route as a result of its reduced ticket fares, but the its Business class seats have not performed so well after the inaugural flight.

“Nigerians believe in the airline and I believe they are ready to support it. The airline has experienced over 60percent load factor in its economy seats since it started operations into UAE but business class seats have been relatively low. We believe with time and more awareness, the business class seats will pick up. It’s a new routes and I believe people will build confidence in it with time,” the travel agent told BusinessDay.

Speaking on its codeshare arrangements with airlines on the route, Allen Onyema, chairman of AirPeace said the airline has an agreement with SATA, with the consent of Air Arabia and others to act on their behalf as middlemen.

“With SATA partnership, we bring our passengers to Air Arabia, which will take them to the next destinations outside Sharjah. And it is a very seamless arrangement. So when we check you in, in Nigeria and, for example, if you are going to Jeddah, Mumbai, Medina, New Delhi and some other cities in India and of course even up to Moscow, we put you through SATA or Air Arabia to take you to the next destination.

“Assuming we have connecting passengers like this one, it is a straight connection. We don’t overburden the person’s luggage; we take it to the next flight. It is seamless arrangement. So, Air Peace is a one-stop shop for people travelling to some cities in Asia,” Onyema added.