AirPeace’s acquisition of brand new aircraft a milestone in Nigeria’s aviation

The Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Musa Nuhu, has described the acquisition of brand new aircraft by AirPeace as a milestone in Nigeria’s aviation industry, noting that what is happening in the industry is a paradigm shift.

Nuhu stated this at a recent ceremony held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to mark the delivery of AirPeace’s third brand new E195-E2 aircraft out of 13 firm orders.

Lauding the AirPeace Chairman, Allen Onyema, the DG emphasised that the beauty of the aircraft delivery was not just that the aircraft is new but that the airline picked the right kind of aircraft befitting for the market.

“Today is another milestone and a paradigm shift and this is something that I have not seen since my days at Nigerian Airways when they were purchasing the right aircraft for the right routes. AirPeace is not only buying aircraft, but also buying the right-size aircraft for the Nigerian market.

“The Embraer aircraft is the right aircraft; it breaks even with low passenger figures; your maintenance cost is low; your operational cost is low. Another factor is that the new aircraft is absolutely great for the environment; it does less pollution. I am really proud that I am DG when this paradigm shift is happening.

“We are all here to work together to grow the industry and we have to give kudos to the entrepreneurs, as without such people, all this will not be possible. We need entrepreneurs like Onyema,” Nuhu asserted.

It can be recalled that just recently AirPeace took delivery of its third brand new E195-E2 jet out of the 13 ordered from Embraer, with five more to be delivered before 2021 runs out.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.