The Nigerian carrier, Air Peace on Wednesday commenced a direct flight between the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos (Nigeria) to Guangzhou (China).
This is as the airline said that it has reached the advanced stages to commence additional two international routes; India and Israel.
The airline started the China route with one initial weekly flight with the plans to increase the services to the long-haul route in the future.
Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Air Peace told journalists at the inaugural flight at the Lagos Airport that the commencement of the route was in fulfilment of its vision to provide seamless connections and expand the existing network to accommodate the evolving air travel needs of the flying public.
She also said that the route was not strange to the airline, having successfully operated several evacuation/special flights to China at different times in the past, especially in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown.
She insisted that the airline was not going into China as newcomers, but as a carrier that is technically and operationally acclimatised.
She added: “The flying public, especially those that fly the Guangzhou route, should expect best-in-class flight experience, which is characteristic of the Air Peace brand. We’re not stopping with Guangzhou- India is next and Israel is in the works.
“Also planned for subsequent launch are Malabo in Equatorial Guinea and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We will continue to grow our route network as well as modernise our fleet strategically. Air Peace currently boasts of a network of twenty domestic routes, seven regional routes and two international destinations, including Dubai and Johannesburg.”
Olajide, however, lauded the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria 9FAAN), the Ministry of Aviation, the Chinese government, its partners and other stakeholders for making the Guangzhou route possible.
She assured that the airline would work harmoniously with all relevant aviation actors to ensure the new route was maximised.
Source: independent.ng