FREEDOM AT LAST

It’s exciting as Air Peace flies the Nigeria-London route, writes Ingram Osigwe  

Shylock foreign airlines are in trouble; they are gasping for breath for an exhilarating dawn of breath of fresh air for Nigerians flying the London route is here! At last, Nigerians can now fly to London and fly back without a gaping hole left in their pockets as a result of exorbitant airfare.

A Nigerian airline, Air Peace, which since berthing in the aviation industry, has adorned Nigerianess like a garb made this possible. Hate him or love him, you cannot take one thing away from Allen Onyema, the unassuming Anambra-born lawyer behind Air Peace: His fervent love for Nigeria and fellow Nigerians oozes from a heart that flows with milk of human kindness, a pure heart that knows no malice or grudges!

When he sprang up Air Peace a few years back, Allen had and still has “Love for Fatherland” as the sacred creed of his enterprise.

Onyema’s trajectory in the aviation sector leaves no one in doubt that remaining true to selflessness, altruism and patriotism even at the risk of business and profit losses is natural to him.

For the Air Peace boss, the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians comes first; and then business and profit follow. This is no sloganeering. Mr. Onyema has lived up to this billing now and again and makes no noise about it.

We saw him do this when distressed and traumatised Nigerians were left at the mercy of horror and indignities in South Africa, Libya and Ukraine.

Putting profit aside, Onyema deployed his planes to evacuate them safely back to Nigeria without demanding kobo from anyone.

Air Peace’s recent audacious and successful foray into the London route despite vicious, debilitating aeropolitics strewn on its path by local and international nay-sayers in the aviation industry again says much about how the extra-mile Onyema can go to do good to his country and his fellow citizens.

Reminiscent of what an indigenous network provider, Globacom owned by the irrepressible boardroom czar, Mike Adenuga did to the GSM industry in 2003 when he made a grand entry into it, Onyema’s Air Peace has demystified foreign airlines, broke their back and rescued Nigerians from mindless exploitation on the London route.

Recall that before Globacom stormed the GSM industry, foreign network operators which dominated the industry in Nigeria at that time sold their SIM cards as high as N30,000 and subjected Nigerians to an excruciating per-minute billing.

However, Globacom’s entry changed all that. At inception, it sold its SIM Pack for N10,000, N5,000 airtime inclusive. In effect, Nigerians bought Glo SIM cards for a mere N5,000 at that time compared to the cut-throat prices of the foreign GSM operators’ SIM packs.

In addition, Globacom also scrapped per-minute call billing and introduced per-second billing at cheap and affordable rates, a feat foreign GSM operators had claimed was impossible.

Globacom’s audacious and revolutionary steps were to put a stop to the hitherto unchecked exploitation of Nigerian subscribers by foreign GSM operators.

Like Globacom, Air Peace has given Nigerians a new lease of life. The indigenous airline has given Nigerians plying the London route a refreshing relief from harsh treatment from foreign airlines.

Before Air Peace entered into the London route, foreign airlines’ Economy class ticket costs were between N3.5m- N4m while Business class soared to N17m. However, with Air Peace pegging its Economy class return ticket on the route for N1.2m and Business Class ticket at N4m, foreign airlines have now been forced to slash their ticket prices drastically. Air Peace has indeed freed Nigerians from the fangs of shylocks!

Remarkably, with the commencement of flight on the London route, Air Peace has finally eviscerated national and international conspiracies that have barred it from the route. It is noteworthy that the airline applied to fly the route seven years ago but obfuscations and vicissitudes inspired by high voltage, vicious local and international aeropolitics were deliberately thrown on its path.

Air Peace is not new to international routes. The airline flies to China, India, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, South Africa and other international routes which take longer hours to fly to and fro. For example, Air Peace flies to China on Wednesdays, a journey of 28 hours forth and back.

 It also flies to India every week- 12 hours to, 13 hours fro- and has undertaken 160 hours of flying within Nigeria every day for the past seven years without blemish. Why then were vested interests in the aviation sector intent at keeping the Airline from the London route, a mere six hours flying time?

The answer is simple: A powerful local and international cabal feeding fat on Nigerians via outrageous London route air ticket was not ready to lose out!

Meanwhile, as far as the London route victory is concerned, Air Peace has become a pathfinder of sorts to other indigenous airlines as some of them like United Nigerian Airline, Ibom Air and Azman Air are now striving assiduously to join the route.

According to Dr Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman of United Airlines, like Air Peace, his airline will conquer and overcome local and international aeropolitics to join the London route. “We will start very soon. I cannot tell when but if it is left for us to start, we would have started yesterday”, an elated Okonkwo said at an event to celebrate Air Peace’s London route triumph.

In all of these, credit must be given to Nigeria’s dynamic Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Festus Keyamo, SAN, for his numerous reforms and innovations in the ministry which made Air Peace’s breaking of the London route monopoly possible. The Minister has sufficiently stamped his competence and has also justified his appointment by President Tinubu.

Air Peace and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development have played their patriotic parts in ending the London route monopoly and the attendant negative economic implications. It is now left for Nigerians to play their part by patronising one of their own.

 The onus now falls on Nigerians to prove that Air Peace fought for them. The airline is one of our own and is wholly Nigerian in its operation. For example, zobo and kilisi were served in the airline’s inaugural London flight and I had no doubt that Nigerians can’t joke with an airline that factors in their fauna and flora in its operation.

 Osigwe is the CEO of Fullpage Communications