Nigerians excited as Air Peace mulls flights to New York, Houston

Following the success of the launch of its London route, Air Peace Airlines has disclosed plans to commence flight operations to New York and Houston by December 2024.

Nigerians have expressed excitement following this news, as fares on the London route dropped immediately after Air Peace opened booking for sales of tickets on the London route.

Allen Onyema, chief executive officer, Air Peace Airlines, says the airline plans to begin flights to New York and Houston by the end of 2024, and is also in the process of purchasing more aircraft for this purpose.

In a recent interview with ARISE NEWS, Onyema said that Air Peace was ready and prepared to take on more flights, revealing that there were seven Air Peace flights going into Gatwick Airport from Nigeria daily.

He said, “We are doing seven daily flights into Gatwick. Nigeria has a balance of about fourteen to do. We are ready, if the government gives us Abuja-London, I will do it, because we are expecting more aircraft into the country purchased by Air Peace. If we get it, we will do it.

“We are planning to hit New York or Houston towards the end of the year because we are bringing in more 777s. As I speak to you, my staff are in California, the engineering technical services department; they’re in California inspecting three 777s we want to buy. So, if we could get them in the next two or three months, then of course, we are good to go anywhere.”

Elated Bigwig Austin with X handle @aai_austin stated that, “Air Peace entered the space flight ticket crashed from $1500 to $761 to London now imagine when they have other routes.

“Moral of the story: The solution lies in local businesses starting and surviving. Provide the enabling environment for Nigerian businesses to survive and watch our economy rise again.”

Chima Wike, a regular traveller on the US route said if Air Peace commences flight to the United States, a lot of Nigerians would patronise Air Peace because fares will be cheaper as there would be no pressure to repatriate funds.

Ndukwe Ginika Ogechi, CEO Geena Travels And Tours Ltd also told BusinessDay that fares would be reduced on the US route once Air Peace commenced flights to the US.

“We are seeing good competition on the London route since Air Peace started flying to London and thus has brought down airfares. Once Air Peace starts the US route, Nigerians will be very happy because fares will drop on the route,” Ginika said.

Air Peace had its maiden flight to London on March 30, 2024, and was fully booked by Nigerians who have since sought cheaper tickets to London.

The airline had pegged its economy class ticket at N1.2m, thereby slashing fares on the route.

According to the airline, a return Economy Class ticket goes for N1.2m while a return Business Class ticket sells for N4m, adding that Nigerians studying in the UK can now access their special 15 percent rebate on the already reduced economy fares.

The foreign airlines which charged as much as N3m on the route have slashed their fares to about N1.5m and less since Air Peace commenced the London flight.