From John Silas, Lagos
The Chairman of Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema, has announced that the Airlines new acquired brand new aircraft would create 17,000 jobs when put into full use.
This is just as the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has said that acquisition of brand new aircraft by Air Peace is a step in the right direction.
He stated that the feat is in tandem with the federal government’s roadmap for the Nation’s Aviation Industry.
Sirika, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Aviation Ministry, Mr. Hassan Musa, at a recently held delivery ceremony for
Air Peace third E195-E2 aircraft, stressed that the use of brand new planes by Nigerian carriers would change the dynamics in airlines’ profitability and sustainability, by driving down maintenance and fuelling costs.
Onyema commended Sirika for engendering tremendous changes in the sector, while adding that the Industry has experienced exponential transformation since he assumed office.
He said the acquisition of the 30 new planes, when fully operational, would create 17, 000 jobs for technical personnel in the Country, in addition to the over 3,000 direct and indirect employees currently.
“By next year, we hope to receive all the 13 planes we made firm order for and by the end of 2023, we intend to activate payment for another 10 of the aircraft brand, which will bring the total to 23.
“We have new routes that we want to deploy the aircraft to. We have new routes that we have just opened, and more routes will still be explored in the coming months,” he revealed.
The Air Peace Boss hinted that the Airline would be opening Gombe soon and plans to deploy the brand new aircraft to West Coast and the broader African region.
Similarly, Onyema said the Airline is planning to commence the Lagos-London route, with the assistance of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which is working on fast-tracking the process.
Out of the 13 aircraft Air Peace ordered from Embraer three have been delivered and five more according to the Airline would be delivered before 2021 runs out.
