Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, revealed that upon the return of his airline’s maiden flight from London, certain personnel from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) attempted to restrict its landing to a rejected section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, located far from the new terminal.
Onyema emphasized the potential difficulties passengers would face due to such action, estimating that it could take up to nine hours for passengers to reach the terminal building.
During an interview on The Morning Show, an Arise TV program, he expressed his disappointment over the decision to reserve Gate C-23 at the new terminal for a foreign carrier instead of utilizing it for an indigenous airline like Air Peace.
He recounted the incident, stating, “When our aircraft landed, thank God I was there because this thing had happened before. Let me excuse the leadership of FAAN, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, and the Director of Air Operations, Captain Abdullahi Mahmood, both of whom are doing fantastically well.”
He criticized the situation, saying, “The wickedness in the system is stinking. The only carrier doing international operations in Nigeria landed and it was kept somewhere in the bush, a disused side of the airport. They expect us to use rickety buses to take international passengers to the new terminal which the international airlines rejected when it was opened.”
Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace: Dr. Allen Onyema
Onyema highlighted the inconvenience caused, explaining, “For those on that plane which landed yesterday (Sunday), it would have taken about six hours for people to exit the airport. They put us near Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, NAHCO, which is very far. And nobody is using that end. No aircraft, not even foreign or local. Meanwhile, Gate C-23 at the new terminal was opened.”
He criticized the preferential treatment given to foreign airlines over Nigerian ones, stating, “When my captain called, he said it was reserved for a foreign airline at the expense of a Nigerian airline. Our aircraft, coming from London, was to be packed in one bush about two kilometres to our terminal.”
Onyema concluded by highlighting the potential negative impact on Air Peace’s reputation, stating, “Can you imagine the time it would take us to take people from there to the terminal building? It would have taken about nine hours and Nigerians would have hated Air Peace because they wouldn’t know.”
