Year 2020 was the most difficult year for aviation in Nigeria in many decades as an already financially challenged industry with low airline survival rate had to contend with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and an economic recession which experts say is the worst since 1983.
The Minister of Aviaition, Hadi Sirika, had during one of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing, said the industry lost N17 billion monthly due to the pandemic and that the loss can never be recovered.
Indeed, domestic operators suffered huge losses and many are still on the path of recovery as the provision of N5billion bailout funds by the Federal Government for the industry and the implementation of the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from imported aircraft parts definitely helped speed up the recovery process. Notwithstanding, airlines are still faced with the challenge of scarcity of forex as many of them have resorted to getting it at the black market.
‘No city left behind’
For operators like Air Peace that is celebrating its seventh anniversary amid the gradual recovery of the sector from the pandemic, stakeholders say it is one of Nigeria’s success stories in resilience. In an industry where the lifespan of airlines hardly exceed 10 years before it goes bust, Air Peace has continued expanding and is vigorously ensuring it meets its ‘No city left behind’ project which will see the airline flying into every city in the country.
The president of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Abednego Galadima, in commending the airline, told Daily Sun that Air Peace has evolved in a systematic manner which is a commendable business strategy and that the ‘no city left behind’ mantra would help the industry grow faster than projected.
“Air Peace have over the past seven years evolved in a systematic manner which is a commendable business strategy. From the equipment acquisition and deployment they have followed a well thought out business plan and their averagely new aircraft flight have given them an edge over their competitors and the size of their flight have enabled them acquire substantial market share in the Nigerian aviation industry. The ‘no city left behind’ mantra is a good driver and helping the Nigerian aviation industry grow faster than projected.
“In terms of performance and on a scale of one to 10, I give them a seven, that is, 70 per cent but I will encourage them to improve on maintenance planning, this will help them to drastically reduce delays and flight cancellations.”
Air Peace began operations in 2013 with a plan to dominate air transport in local and regional operations. It started with few routes and gradually began expanding and currently, it services Abuja, Akure, Asaba, Benin, Calabar, Enugu, Gombe, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Warri and Yola, five regional and two international destinations; Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, UAE, South Africa, Senegal, Gambia and Cameroon and has a varied fleet of 28 aircraft and brand new 124-seat capacity E195-E2 jets.
Employment
While receiving its third new Embraer 195-E2, from the Embraer Facility in Sao Jose Dos Campos in June this year, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, said the airline aims to 17,000 jobs by 2023 when it completes delivery of its 30 new Embraer jets. He revealed that the airline has fully paid for 13 new aircraft and made purchase rights of additional 17 more which will be activated by 2023. Currently, it has employed over 3,000 workers and creates indirect jobs for thousands more.
While many airlines were laying off workers last year because of the pandemic, Onyema approved the increase of staff salaries by 100 percent for junior workers and less for senior workers. He told journalists that he founded the airline to create jobs and hoped that the airline would outlive him and emerge a strong legacy brand.
The president National Air Traffic Controllers Association, (NATCA), Abayomi Agoro, commended the airline for its service delivery and advised that as it expands, it should do so within the limits of its resources. He told Daily Sun that the fact that the airline has been in the skies for seven years and has not had any crash is highly commendable. He then urged the Federal Government to put structures in place that would help airlines thrive better and develop the industry.
“One of the things the airlines should do is to pay more attention to the yearning of their customers. Because many airlines are finding ways to break even, they are sometimes overwhelmed but I won’t blame them alone, I would also blame the government because the government has not been very effective in putting adequate infrastructure in place for effective operations.
“Air Peace has really tried very much because it is not easy to expand within such a short period of time. I pray that it continues doing well and also learn from the mistakes of those that came before it.
“Seven years in the sky without any accident is really very commendable and is not an easy feat to achieve and I urge them to keep improving on their safety standards,” Agoro said.
On how the government can strengthen domestic airlines, aviation expert, John Ojikutu, told Daily Sun that the multiple destinations given to foreign airlines should be reduced so that there would be market for our local airlines.
“The government must help the domestic commercial airlines in the domestic market operations by reducing the multiple destinations given to most foreign airlines that are intruding into the domestic routes and therefore the domestic markets. No foreign airlines must go to Lagos and Abuja but Lagos OR Abuja and one other airport in the alternative geographical zone to its first choice.
The foreign airlines can however make as many frequencies daily as it wishes. These will create markets for our domestic airlines,” Ojikutu said.
The president of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Susan Akporiaye also commended the airline, telling Daily Sun that they are proud of its growth and expansion and urged for more collaboration.
“NANTA is happy that Nigeria has a big airline like Air Peace which has represented the country well internationally and as an association, we are giving all the support as best as we can and we wish them well and pray that they continue to expand. However the only advice I would give them is that they should engage more with us. Travel agents are a very vital part of aviation business but if you are not engaging us, how can we know what you’re doing or the services that you offer? We bring a lot of business to airlines and we are ready to given 110 percent but they are not engaging us,” she said.
Sports development
Air Peace signed a four-year partnership deal worth N300million with the NFF to become the exclusive airline sponsor of the national team and the deal is renewable every year for the next four years.
During the signing of the agreement Onyema said the decision to sign the contract despite the current economic crunch in the aviation sector is due to the airline’s desire to be part of the success stories of the Super Eagles. “I decided to be part of what NFF is doing not because of their hard work, resilience, breaking barriers to make sure that Nigerian football is in the forefront globally, but principally because I want to use the platform that God has given me to restore hope in this country,” Onyema said.
CSR
In 2019, Onyema deployed Air Peace aircraft to South Africa to evacuate hundreds Nigerians who were willing to return at the height of the xenophobic attacks. He spent over N280 millions of his personal funds in this philanthropic gesture and the action earned him much recognition and commendation across the country.
Last year, the airline transported medical supplies on behalf of the Federal Government and carried out inbound and outbound evacuation flights to bring back stranded Nigerians from around the world. It flew in medical supplies from Turkey and also flew to China on April 7, 2020 to bring in medical supplies and medical experts on behalf of the federal government.
Also in April last year, it distributed food items to several indigent families impacted by covid19 in Sabo, Makoko and Ajegunle areas of Lagos where bags of rice, cartons of noodles and loaves of bread were given out to vulnerable people.
By Chinelo Obogo
Source: sunnewsonline.com
