AIR PEACE TO FLY INTO SAUDI ARABIA

By Yunus Olawale

As part of its development and expansion in the business of airline operations, AIRPEACE Management has put plans in place to commence airlifting travelers to Jeddah.  It shall be flying passengers’ to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, routing Lagos, Kano, and Jeddah, as of October 30, 2023, on scheduled flights.

The spokesperson of the airline, Mr. Stanley Olisa, said in a statement that AIRPEACE unveiled the plan during their Management business engagement session with certified travel agents in Kano, early this week. The Lagos-Kano-Jeddah route would operate three times a week with a feasible connection from Abuja.

Oluwatoyin Olajide, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), stressed that the airline operations shall be powered directly into the kingdom using the Boeing 777 aircraft, and the new route is coming after other international routes Air PEACE started earlier in the year. She said: “In the first half of this year, we launched two major international destinations—Mumbai and Tel Aviv – and now we are gearing up for Jeddah next month. This does not only signal growth and expansion for the airline, but it also demonstrates our firm commitment to reducing the burden associated with connecting cities with stopovers and this is evident in our international route network. We offer direct flights at affordable fares.”

Rounding up her presentation on the occasion, she was grateful to the travel agents, thank them for their patronage of the airline and reiterated that the airline is committed to working for the good of all.

Alhaji Abdulrazak Ibrahim, vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Northern Zone, acknowledged the efforts of the airline and assured the Management of AIR PEACE their full support towards success of the airline commercial flights to Saudi Arabia. Ibrahim also urged the airline to keep blazing the trail in driving route connectivity across domestic and international cities.

This development is a welcome news to the Muslim community in Nigeria. Nearly on the daily basis, Nigerian Muslims wish to travel for Umrah in Saudi Arabia in addition to other businesses they have to do in the Kingdom. Hitherto, the dearth of passenger, aircraft to Saudi Arabia was a hindrance, but with the coming of the AIR PEACE to the route, it is going to be a succor for the Muslim community. It is on the record that the airline participated to the delight of the Muslim community in the last Hajj of operations. Its involvement was a milestone for both Nigerian Muslims and Air Peace Management because the airline’s participation aided successfully the transportation of 95, 0000 Nigerian pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage.

Air Peace, which operated a special flight to Antigua and Barbuda in August 2023, with prospects of scheduled operations into the Caribbean nation, leads Nigeria’s aviation industry with a network of 20 domestic routes, eight regional and five international destinations.