Dana Air condemns whatsapp message

Chinedu Eze

Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace has said it would operate all-female flight, including pilots and cabin crew from Lagos to Abuja and from Abuja to Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The airline said the flight is coming few days after it gave command to Sinmisola Ajibola, who made history as the airline’s first female captain and was decorated with her new rank by its Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema.

This is coming as Dana Air has denounced messages in the social media, especially Whatsapp platform, calling prospective passengers to stop patronising the airline and also alleging that the rice, the sister company of the airline, imported from Pakistan, was not good for consumption.

The spokesman of Air Peace, Chris Iwarah said the flight was planned in honour of Air Peace’s first female captian, Ajibola.
“Captain Sinmisola’s achievement is a testament to Air Peace’s avowed commitment to gender equality and promotion of Nigerian women in aviation as possessing the requisite skills to distinguish themselves anywhere across the globe in their chosen career. Although women occupy most of our top positions, Sinmisola’s elevation is a great milestone in our effort to grow capacity for women in the cockpit,” the airline said.

Sinmisola, who would be in command of the four-leg flight, would be assisted in the cockpit by Senior First Officer Quincy Owen.
The airline said the all-female crew flight scheduled to take off from the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at 1310 hours (1:10 pm Nigerian time) is expected to arrive to a water salute at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 1420 (2:20 pm) hours.

In another development, Dana Air’s Media and Communications Manager, Kingsley Ezenwa, has explained that there was no truth in the message being spread on social media.

“For the records, the Dana brand has been in Nigeria for over 45 years, contributing positively to the Nigerian economy with quality products in the areas of aviation, steel, manufacturing, automobile, banking, real estate, health, and beverage, just to mention a few,” he said.