Air Peace has asked the Federal Government to prevent foreign carriers from operating domestic flights in the country.
According to the Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace, Oluwatoyin Olajide, while speaking in Lagos, allowing foreign carriers to operate domestic flights would have serious negative implications on indigenous carriers in the country. She added that the government needed to stop multiple destinations to foreign carriers.
“Foreign carriers should not be allowed to conduct domestic operations within Nigeria. Government needs to stop multiple destinations to foreign carriers. This is suicidal and injurious to the survival of domestic operators in Nigeria,” she said.
The Air Peace boss stressed on the need for government to create an enabling environment for indigenous airlines to succeed by putting in place top-notch facilities and equipment, instead of granting licenses to foreign carriers to operate domestically.
Olajide also disclosed that government and regulatory bodies needed to see the airlines as strategic partners in the development of the aviation industry in Nigeria.
She also said it would be in the government’s best interest to support the industry and not destroy it as the industry is a major revenue earner for the country.
“The government and regulatory bodies should see airlines as being their partners in progress. Once this is done, conducting business will be significantly easier and it will go a long way in developing the sector. Once we can have all that in place in the areas of airport infrastructure, right landing aids, right operating environment, then this country will have a very viable aviation sector.
“It is possible and doable because this is one industry that generates huge revenue for the economy of this country. It is one industry that the government needs to pay attention to. We don’t want to destroy it,” Olajide said.
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On the achievement of Air Peace in an assessment of the company’s performance in 2019, the COO stated that some new routes were launched and more importantly, Air Peace commenced its Dubai flight operations.
“We now fly to 22 different destinations in seven countries. This same year, we signed contracts for the purchase of new aircraft. We are currently expecting 13 Embraer 195-E2 Jets; some of which will be delivered in the first quarter of 2020.
“Also, we made our debut appearance at the biennial Dubai Air Show where one of the E195-E2 jets was displayed. This is growth. For an airline that is just half a decade old achieving all these strides in our kind of environment, I think it is an amazing success,’’ Olajide said.