Nigeria and West Africa’s Largest Airline, Air Peace has leased five A320s as it prepares to ramp up air operation in the country and further expand its reach in the industry.
According to simpleflying.com, Nigeria is the second-largest sub-Saharan country in February, with only South Africa having more seats. However, Nigeria slips down the table if flights on offer and available seat miles are considered instead. While the country’s domination varies, Air Peace is the largest of the nation’s relatively small airlines, no matter how it is measured.
Introducing Air Peace
Founded in 2013, Air Peace is now the biggest carrier in West Africa and the sixth-largest in sub-Saharan Africa. In the present month, it has about 372,000 seats for sale, according to OAG schedules information. Only Ethiopian Airlines, Safair, Airlink, Kenya Airways, and Comair have more. Some of these are larger because of bigger aircraft or more seats per flight, offsetting a smaller fleet or particular network. Of course, Ethiopian Airlines is overwhelmingly Africa’s largest operator.
READ: Africa: The UAE/Air Peace Aviation Impasse-Why Dubai Should Not Die On The Nigerian Hill.
In February, some 3.8 million seats are available to, from, and within West and Central Africa across all carriers. While Air Peace is number-one, it has only a 10% share, a reminder of how fragmented African aviation often is. The next African carrier is Ethiopian Airlines, thanks to three-quarters of its flights there being by widebodies. A reasonable chunk of Air Peace’s fleet is currently inactive, including two-thirds of its B777s, obviously pushing down its numbers.
Air Peace’s domination changes if services exclusively within West Africa are considered. Its share more than doubles to nearly one in ten, followed by Arik Air, ASKY, Ibom Air, and Air Côte d’Ivoire. While hardly surprising, the significance of Nigeria – by far Africa’s largest country by population – is clear. However, it is still very far from its potential.
It now has five leased A320s
According to ch-aviation.com and confirmed on Flightradar24, some five A320s are now in Air Peace’s fleet, registered 9H-SLE/SLF/SLH/SLI/SJH. They are damp-leased from SmartLynx Malta. Damp-leasing ordinarily means that the aircraft, insurance, maintenance, and pilots are included, but not cabin crew. They seem to be operating as a stop-gap before more E2s are delivered.
SmartLynx A320 delivery to Air Peace
The fifth aircraft (9H-SLE) flew from Chateauroux to Lagos on February 4th, arriving in the small hours of the fifth. It was stored at Chateauroux since November. Image: Flightradar24.
Part of an enormously diverse fleet
Many African airlines have a very diverse fleet, often comprising relatively small numbers of aircraft of each type. It pushes up costs and complexity, although it may provide more flexibility and the ability to right-size capacity to demand. Air Peace is no exception, with its 35-strong fleet spread across eight types/variants, four manufacturers, and different generations of equipment, as shown below. My favourite is the ultra-rare Dornier 328JET, although it is stored.
Eight B737-300s
Eight E145s
Five B737-500s
Five A320s
Five E195-E2s
Two B777-300s
One B777-200ER
One D328JET
Things are beginning to change, with Air Peace’s first Embraer 195-E2 entering commercial service in July 2021. It now has five of the much more fuel-efficient regional aircraft, with another eight to be delivered. It has purchase rights for another 17. Along with 10 incoming B737 MAX 8s, they’ll play a crucial role in modernizing the carrier’s fleet, which currently averages 19 years.
