Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has called on the Federal Government to support Nigeria’s largest indigenous carrier, AirPeace, as it commenced international flights into Dubai on Friday July 5, 2019.
AON, while thanking the Federal Government for its role in making this feat possible, noted that the next level required strong government support, as AirPeace had become one of the pillars to the building of our nation’s economy.
In a statement sent by Nogie Meggison, president, AON, the association said AirPeace was Nigeria’s private airlines’ fourth attempt into the international market, and it would be recalled that many of the airlines that went before them collapsed mainly due to aero politics, which is 85 percent the role of government to play, as foreign carriers dominate 100 percent of the Nigerian sky with capital flight of about $3 billion yearly.
Meggison called on the Federal Government to put its full weight behind AirPeace and give the carrier all the support required to succeed on the route in the face of stiff competition and aero politics, which the carrier will face in the near future.
“AirPeace has taken a bold step and they should be encouraged by Nigerians. The airline’s maiden flight to Dubai means more jobs for our Nigerian youths; it means jobs for over 600 unemployed Nigerian pilots; it means hope for our various Aviation Training Academies at NCAT, Zaria, International Aviation College, Ilorin, and the International Helicopter Flying School, Enugu.
“It also means more travel choices for Nigerian travellers at affordable rates; it means more contribution to the Nigerian economy and GDP; it means increased growth for the Nigerian aviation sector; it means the transfer of technology and technical expertise; and it also means a reduction in capital flight from the country by foreign airlines. Government therefore needs to rally round Air Peace as a proud Nigerian operator and give the airline all the support to succeed,” AON president said.
Speaking further, the AON chairman remarked that the issue of aero politics had been the bane of operators like Bellview that was frustrated out of the India market; Arik Air that was given a distant parking bay in Dubai at the far end of the terminal; Medview, who was frustrated out of the London route by sheer regulatory technicalities and so called safety deficiencies, unfair slot allocation, exorbitant airport charges, levies and fees, and all forms of excuses to name a few, which were mainly to discredit the airline as a means of edging them out of the route in order to get rid of the competition the carrier posed to their own local operators on the route and to protect their own.
In the light of the above therefore, he called on the Federal Government not to leave Air Peace but to stand tall with Nigerian Airlines and bring the full weight of its political machinery and influence behind Air Peace and effectively protect the airline from all forms of Aero Politics and regulatory biases that may arise during the course of the airline’s operations into various international destinations.
He also used the opportunity to call on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to urgently provide Air Peace with a prominent space for its Private Lounge on the air side at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) designed in Air Peace colours to show that this is a Nigerian Flag Carrier base similar to what obtains in Frankfort with Lufthansa; Heathrow with British Airways; and Dubai with Emirates.
“This is a private Nigerian airline that has invested private funds with four (4) B777 and is flying the Nigerian flag beyond the shores of our beloved nation. And it should be put on record that no private Entrepreneur in any African country has ever attempted scheduled commercial international flights apart from Nigerian Private Entrepreneurs. We must all therefore put all hands on deck and work together to make this effort by Air Peace succeed and become a legacy for others to build on,” he said.
