Air Peace begins Lagos/Guangzhou direct flight
Air Peace yesterday started a weekly direct flight to the commercial city of Guangzhou, China.
This is the first time a Nigerian carrier will be operating scheduled flights into China in the Asian continent.
The new service, according to the Chief Operating Officer of the carrier, Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, would reduce the hassles of Nigerians and the burgeoning Chinese community in Nigeria.
Olajide said the flight was made possible with the approvals of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Ministry of Aviation and the Chinese government.
She said the flights would not only deepen commercial and diplomatic ties between the two countries but provide a window for business people traversing the two continents.
She spoke of plans to increase the flight’s frequency, which would however, be dependent on the Chinese civil aviation authority.
With over 240 passengers on the outbound flight, Olajide said there was the assurance that Air Peace would have a good time on the route as it has opened discussions with some Asia carriers to distribute passengers to other Chinese, including Shanghai, Beijing and other destinations.
She said Air Peace has also opened discussions with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to facilitate transit passengers through its entire route network to key into the direct Lagos-China route.
She said the carrier has already escalated plans to work with other players in the aviation space to maximise the operations.
Olajide said the carrier is working towards securing approval for a daily flight to China which she said is part of its vision to connect passengers from Nigeria to any part of the world.
She said: “We are not new to the Chinese airspace having operated evacuation flights during the COVID-19 pandemic into the country. With the appreciable load factor of 240 passengers out of Lagos, we are hoping to grow the passenger traffic to daily flights. With the lifting of restrictions and issuance of visas more Nigerians can now connect from our route network into the China operations.”
