Aircraft Order Confirms Air Peace as Future Airline

Chinedu Eze

Last week, the West Africa largest carrier, Air Peace, made firm order of five Embraer E175 aircraft, thus raising the airline’s total aircraft order to 33.

The airline had earlier made firm order for 13 Embraer E195-E2, 15 Boeing MAX and has now ordered five of the Embraer E175.

Out of the orders made, Air Peace has already received five Embraer E195-E2, while the rest of the E195-E2 will be delivered early 2025.

While announcing its latest order, the Brazil-based aircraft manufacturing company, Embraer, stated that Nigeria-based Air Peace, West Africa’s largest airline, has placed a firm order for five Embraer E175 aircraft.

“The strategic decision marks a significant step forward and is in alignment with Air Peace’s ongoing strategy of modernising its fleet. This acquisition is in line with Air Peace’s determination to become the operator of the largest and youngest fleet of aircraft in Africa. It reinforces Air Peace’s commitment to enhancing its domestic and regional network connectivity and paves the way for further regional expansion. Deliveries of the 88 seat aircraft start in 2024. The value of the order, at list price, is $288.3m,” Embraer said in a statement.

Embraer noted that Air Peace is already an operator of Embraer’s newest and largest jet, the E195-E2, noting that these smaller aircraft will complement the airlines’ existing fleet, allowing Air Peace to dynamically match capacity to demand, protecting yields and route viability. 

The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, said: “This is another important step in helping to realize our ambition to connect the whole of Nigeria with the entire African continent, while also feeding passengers into long-haul flights from our Lagos hub. The acquisition enables us to continue delivering on our ‘no-city-left-behind’ initiative – connectivity is what our passengers, and Africa, demand. The deal also paves the way to establish local maintenance capabilities in Nigeria, with direct support from Embraer.”  

Head of Africa and Middle East Region, Commercial Aviation, Stephan Hannemann, said: “Air Peace’s strategic and innovative approach continues to make them a powerhouse of aviation success in West Africa. Already an E2 operator, it now makes sense to upgauge their ERJ145 fleet, offering passengers more seats and comfort with the E175. The commonality of the cockpits between the E1 and E2 fleet also simplifies aircrew costs and management. Acknowledging Air Peace’s significant investment in the acquisition of the Embraer fleet of aircraft, which has increased to 18 brand new firm aircraft to date, Embraer, in partnership with Air Peace is committed to directly supporting the establishment of local maintenance capabilities in Nigeria.”