Air Peace Evacuates 327 Nigerians in Maiden Flight to London

By Chinedu Eze

Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace yesterday airlifted about 327 Nigerians from London in the airline’s maiden flight to UK’s capital and the first leg of the evacuation exercise to Europe’s commercial centre.

A statement signed by the airline’s spokesman, Mr. Stanley Olisa said that the Nigerians were airlifted by Air Peace iconic Boeing 777, with registration number 5N-BWI.

The statement added the aircraft departed Heathrow Airport London earlier yesterday and arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 20:41hours (8:41 pm Nigerian time).

After disembarking some passengers in Abuja, the aircraft proceeded to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

The airline expressed gratitude to the federal government, especially the Nigerian Embassy in London, for choosing it to conduct the flight.

The company added that the flight was significant to the airline as it gave it an opportunity to further show its capability for long-haul flights.

“We are delighted to have operated this flight. It unmistakably shows that Air Peace can fly to anywhere in the world, given the required support by the government,” Olisa said.

Since March when the federal government banned flight operations across the country as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19, Air Peace has been operating series of ‘special flights’ to and from different countries, including China, Turkey, India, Israel and South Africa.