What was supposed to be a moment of jubilation was turned into sadness for Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest carrier last week during the arrival of its latest Boeing 777 into Nigeria.
The aircraft, which was supposed to touch down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos by 3:00 pm from Dallas, the United States, was stopped from landing 30 minutes to its arrival by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) over alleged ‘no parking space’ at what is supposed to be the largest airport in Nigeria.
Victoria Shin-aba, the airport manager, who refused to come out to resolve the problem, asked the airline to go and park the aircraft at Enugu or Port Harcourt airport and claimed that she was out of the office, even when she was sighted at the airport.
Under her instruction, FAAN’s Aviation Security (AVSEC) refused to allow journalists to go to the airside to cover the arrival of the aircraft until Chris Iwarah, the head of communication of Air Peace, called Henrietta Yakubu, the general manager, Corporate of Affairs of FAAN, who intervened.
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According to FAAN, Air Peace did not notify the agency in time about the arrival of the aircraft, but Iwarah said that the aircraft was supposed to arrive three days earlier and the agency was aware about the delay and the subsequent arrival of the airplane that Wednesday.
FAAN unofficially complained to journalists that Air Peace had earlier brought Boeing 777 and parked them at the airport, but Iwarah said that the agency was aware that the aircraft were being prepared for international operations and were going through procedures with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) before they would be inducted as part of Air Peace fleet so that they would be used for international service.
Iwarah said that the aircraft were not just parked there but were used for demonstration flight for several hours in order to meet NCAA regulation for the airline to conduct international operations.
He disclosed that the demonstration flights took the aircraft to Sharja in United Arab Emirates, Johannesburg, Dakar, Senegal, Kano, Freetown, Port Harcourt and they are used everyday for training between Lagos and Abuja.
After arguments and negotiations between FAAN and Air Peace, the agency asked the airline to land the aircraft at the cargo section of the airport instead of the terminal where commercial passengers flights land and park.
It took several hours of persuasion before the aircraft was allowed by FAAN to be moved to the passenger terminal by that time the captain of the flight and his co-pilot had spent two and half hours in the aircraft after it had landed.
Inside Air Peace said that the two pilots who were supposed to operate the aircraft and train Nigerians that would take over from them decided to leave the country immediately, saying that the authorities were against the airline so they did not feel safe staying in the country.
When contacted, Yakubu said she was sure that Shin-aba, the airport manager, did not say the airline should take the aircraft to the Enugu or Port Harcourt and park it there.
She denied that FAAN was being antagonistic to the airline, saying that the agency earns huge revenue from the indigenous carrier and would not have any reason to antagonize it.
