Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, has dismissed insinuations that Nigerian airlines are not safe.
He said Nigerian carriers would never compromise safety in their operations, noting that Air Peace spent about $2.5m annually in maintaining a single aircraft on its fleet.
Onyema spoke in Lagos as the airline took delivery of one of its newly acquired Boeing B777-200, making it the only carrier to bring in the brand of the airplane with Nigerian registration.
The 274-capacity aircraft is the first of two Boeing 777 airliners Air Peace recently acquired in preparation for its Dubai, Sharjah, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg services.
The airline is finalising talks to add two B777 aircraft to its fleet soon, it was disclosed.
The aircraft with registration mark 5N-BVE bears “Ifechukwu”, the middle name of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema.
Onyema who spoke at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport where he received the aircraft, urged members of the travelling public not to entertain fear regarding the safety of Nigerian airlines, saying Nigerian carriers were safe.
“So in terms of safety, we can assure our guests of the very best because even our technical partner is a firm from the United Kingdom.
“Air Peace cannot be said to be weak or indebted, and if there are airlines that are going through that, they should come out and name them instead of generalising,” he said.
The Air Peace boss said he remained opposed to the Single African Air Transportation Market (SAATM) initiative, insisting that Nigeria had little or nothing to gain from it.
“This is the first time a Nigerian carrier is acquiring a B777. What we have had in the past were through leases which were not favourable to the airline operators. So, I don’t believe that Nigerian airlines cannot compete favourably with others. What we have been lacking is the necessary support,” he said.
