Air Peace and the Others

Here’s the news in brief. International flights from Nigeria to and from London are lucrative for airlines. For many years, travellers from Nigeria have been ripped off because it costs a lot more to fly from Lagos, Port Harcourt or Abuja (in Nigeria) to London than similar flights from Lome, Togo or Accra, Ghana. In fact, flights to London from South Africa which are twice as long as those from Nigeria have also been cheaper. Despite the large number of Nigerian travellers,  no Nigerian airline has received a slice of the cake for a long time. After a fierce battle, there came a new kid on the block, Air Peace and the airline’s maiden flight from Lagos to London was on 30th March 2024.

The video below is first hand account of a passenger on the maiden return flight from London to Lagos:

Three remarkable things have happened since that inaugural flight:

1. Air Peace did not cash in on the rogue existing prices of air tickets. The airline was patriotic and ticket costs were much lower than existing fares. Overnight, all the airlines have drastically cut back their fares to ridiculously low levels.
2. Air Peace served delicious Nigerian meals in-flight, not the usual chicken or Pasta.
3. The cabin crew wore a lovely Nigerian attire projecting a culture of the nation.

On the flip side, uncharitable practices were recorded at Gatwick Airport as highlighted in the video above by Jide Iyaniwura and the ‘devilish conspiracy’ noted below. Can you imagine if this shoddy treatment at Gatwick was meted to a foreign airline on their maiden flight out of Nigeria? The tragedy for us is that even (Nigerian) staff at Lagos Airport tried to mess up the point of disembarkation of the passengers on arrival from London!

Most people will agree that the only reliable flight in Nigeria for all airlines is the first flight. This has improved to a large extent recently. In my last few trips to Nigeria, it was beautiful flying Ibom Air. On my first flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt with the airline, the lady at the Airline’s counter was vey professional. I was so impressed by the breath of fresh air that when she finished I gave her some crisp Naira notes. She declined and told me she was just doing her job and thanked me for my kindness. Wow! My next trip, first flight again. Delayed by an hour…

It is not easy to live and work in Nigeria. The theme song of the popular TV drama, Hotel de Jordan said it all:

Poor man dey suffer, monkey dey work, baboon dey chop.

The story has not changed much. El Dee’s song ‘One Day’ remains on my mind with the lyrics:

No doubt unpatriotic Nigerians and their strange bedfellows would have done everything possible to frustrate Air Peace, the same way for the last 60+ years, Nigeria’s oil and other mineral resources are being looted through active collaboration of unscrupulous Nigerians in high places with their foreign partners.

The achievement of Allen Onyeama and the staff of Air Peace in breaking the chains of a Nigerian airline flying from Nigeria to London is worthy of commendation. It reminds one about the millions of Nigerians in various walks of life, unsung heroes trying their best against all odds to do the right thing always. The good news is that there are also thousands of patriotic Nigerians abroad who work day and night (without four-day Public Holidays), hoping to see their motherland become a prosperous nation and an egalitarian society.

Patriotic Nigerians, it is time to put our money where our mouth is! It is time to buy Nigeria and stand with Air Peace.  Their concerted efforts and overwhelming achievement are worthy of emulation. Let’s fly to Lagos from out of Gatwick Airport and into UK through the same Airport. Make we no gree for anybody!

#WewillflyAirPeace 

#FlyAirPeace

Abiye Hector-Goma is a General Practitioner based in Leeds, UK who beleives that one day e go better for Naija.