SATURDAY May 3, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng
Air Peace, the nation’s biggest airline has told the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that it has more aircraft available in its fleet than currently rostered for daily operations.
The airline also said that that the alleged “chronic flight delays and cancellations” in its operations were primarily due to safety concerns, reiterating that it would not sacrifice safety for convenience or comfort of passengers irrespective of who is involved.
This is as one of the aircraft in the fleet of Air Peace on Friday, suffered a bird strike incident at Enugu airport on landing, thereby causing damage to its engine.
The NCAA had in a statement on Friday, directed Air Peace to reduce its operations to the size of available aircraft presently in its fleet.
The regulatory body had said that this became paramount following the series of flight delay and cancellation complaints lodged against the carrier by its customers.
But, Air Peace in its response on Saturday, appreciated the NCAA’s consistent efforts in ensuring that all airlines operating within the country, adhered strictly to global safety standards and regulatory compliance.
Air Peace in a statement signed by its management, however declared that safety was and would always remain its cardinal priority.
It insisted that any delays or cancellations it experienced had absolutely nothing to do with fleet shortage.
While empathising with the passengers who experience discomfort, inconvenience, or disrupted plans due to flight delays or cancellations, the airline insisted that it did not regret taking operational decisions rooted in the protection of human lives and in strict adherence to safety standards.
The statement maintained that if weather conditions, technical parameters, or operational standards fell short of safety parameters, it would not operate such a flight.
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The statement added: “While we hold the NCAA in the highest regard as the regulatory authority overseeing aviation in Nigeria, we believe it is essential to set the record straight. “
“At Air Peace, safety is and will always remain our cardinal priority. These delays and cancellations are dictated by safety considerations.
“We fully empathise with our esteemed passengers who experience discomfort, inconvenience, or disrupted plans due to flight delays or cancellations.
“If weather conditions, technical parameters, or operational standards fall short of what is safe, we will not operate that flight.”
Air Peace revealed that it suffered a bird strike incident at Enugu Airport on Friday on landing at the airport.
According to the airline, aircraft was immediately grounded and withdrawn from operation in accordance with safety protocol.
It lamented that the said aircraft had been scheduled to service multiple routes on Friday, and its unavailability had a direct ripple effect on operations for those routes.
It pointed out that this kind of situation was completely beyond its control, but insisted it would always adhere to the tenet of safety of its passengers.
“It is to be stated that every decision Air Peace has taken since the inception of this airline, whether resulting in a delay, cancellation, or suspension of flight, has been taken in the best interest of safety.
“And if such situations occur again, we will do the same because we are not ready to compromise safety. We do not cancel any flight for the fun of it.
“It is not our policy to delay or cancel flights without due cause, and when we do, we are often the greater loser financially. We will never sacrifice safety for convenience, comfort, speed, or profit. We remain focused on serving our passengers with dignity, professionalism, and above all, unwavering adherence to safety standards,” the statement added.
