Mr. Allen Onyema, chairman of Air Peace, has exposed the harmful repercussions of a Nigerian publication that forecasted the company’s downfall under the title Dead On Arrival. He discussed the obstacles encountered throughout the four-year process of getting the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), which included both external roadblocks and internal opposition within Nigeria.
The CEO of Air Peace complained in July 2023 that the government had refused to accept the airline’s application, preventing the carrier from launching flights to the United Kingdom. Onyema insisted that Air Peace, which already travels to China and India, was more than capable of handle the six-hour flight from Nigeria to London.
The CEO recently stated that the Federal Government has approved Air Peace’s direct flight operations to London, with help from the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
In a TVC interview, Onyema stated that internal resistance in Nigeria throughout time, as well as the British administration, contributed to the challenges in acquiring the BASA. He underlined the negative consequences of bad news, such as the tabloid’s “Dead On Arrival” prognosis, which he saw as a symptom of the country’s fundamental issues and jealously. Onyema underlined that Air Peace’s ability to overcome these hurdles demonstrates how crucial community support is for Nigerian-owned enterprises.
In his words, ”When we talk about the BASA, it wasn’t Britain alone stopping us. From Nigeria here, we were being stopped by our own people for 4 years and they were conniving with whoever to do that. Now we have been able to break into it. A Nigerian tabloid was writing, Dead On Arrival that Air Peace will not succeed. That will tell you the wickedness in the system in this country. The envy has driven some people to a point that they have lost it. It’s not about Air Peace, it’s not about Allen Onyema. Allen Onyema does not own Air Peace any longer. Air Peace is owned by the over 220 million Nigerians. And what we have done in the last few years has proven to this country that we need to support our own.”