Mr. Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace,has appealed to the Federal Government to open a special window for airlines where foreign exchange could be accessed more easily.
He disclosed this in Abuja during the delivery of its fourth Embraer 195-E2, Onyema,where he also said that the scarcity of foreign exchange in the last few months had negatively affected its operations.
He added that this was partly responsible for the recent flight delays across the country, insisting that the airline was willing to take back the aircraft, but forex scarcity had continued to derail its plans.
He spoke on the new E195-E2 aircraft, and declared that the arrival of the new brand aircraft from the factory in Brazil would further enhance its operations, while its plan to cover most of the cities in the country would be achieved.
The aircraft with the registration number: 5N-BYI touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja at 2:00pm with cheers from aviation stakeholders, including the Board of Directors of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).
Onyema also assured that additional three of the aircraft brand would be delivered to the airline from the manufacturer before the end of the year.
Air Peace had taken delivery of the first brand new E195-E2 aircraft in January 2021, the second was delivered to it in March, while the third was received in June this year.
Onyema said: ”Today marks another milestone in the annals of the aviation industry in Nigeria. The aircraft is the latest innovation in the global aviation industry and we are here to serve the travelling public better.
”But, the scarcity of forex has affected our plans to take delivery of more aircraft as we anticipated. However, I want to assure you that all the aircraft either brand new ones or not are safe to fly in the country. All the Nigerian airlines are also safe to fly.Yes, there is competition in the industry, but we don’t have devilish competition any more in the sector.”
Also speaking at the occasion, Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), expressed delight that Nigerian airlines are beginning to acquire brand new aircraft, saying this would further boost confidence of the flying public.
Nuhu declared that the E195-E2 aircraft was a good equipment for the Nigerian environment, hoping that the airline in the next two years would refleet its entire aircraft fleet with the brand new aircraft.
Besides, he said that the connectivity had improved in recent times in the country, stressing that Nigeria had massive untapped potential that could improve the economy
”We have huge potential here in Nigeria. We want to promote trade, connectivity, tourism and contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.The Covid-19 pandemic negatively affected our industry, but we are gradually returning to the pre-Covid-19 era. The NCAA is a friend and a partner to the airlines. We want to make the industry to grow,” he said.
