NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Sirika wants improved visa policy between Nigeria and Qatar

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By Gabriel Agbeja

Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has called for improved visa policy between Nigeria and Qatar.

Sirika made the call when the Charge d’Affaires of Qatar in Nigeria, Mr Ahmed Mohammed, paid a courtesy visit to him in Abuja on Monday.

He said restrictions on both sides were making it difficult to connect the two countries as expected.

The minister also called for sustainable relationship between the two countries.

“Nigeria and Qatar should maintain a sustainable relationship. Nigeria is yearning for investments and is also committed to its policy of ease of doing business for investors.

“The rate of returns on investments in Nigeria is 34 per cent and the highest in the world with a population of more than 200 million people.

“Qatar is rich in oil and gas with other areas of investments just as Nigeria equally has infrastructures required for smooth business operations,’’ he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Alli Hakeem

Aviation professionals urge girls to aspire to greatness

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By Kemi Akintokun

 

Mrs Yewande Cole, Head of Ground Operations, Value Jet, on Tuesday advised young girls to aspire to greatness, irrespective of their career paths or field.

Value Jet is a Nigerian carrier that operates scheduled flights to cities within Nigeria.

Cole gave the advice at the Amelia Earhart Day celebration, organised by the Zonta Lagos Club 1.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and also set many other records.

“Women have started breaking the records in aviation and this is because we have female pilots and engineers in the country.

“This celebration is just to encourage the young girls that they can be anything they want to be in life if they aspire and pursue their dreams,” she said.

Cole commended Zonta for putting the programme together to encourage girls to pursue their dreams.

“What Zonta is doing is really good because this is a better way to encourage the young ones to venture into the aviation industry.

“A lot of people perceived aviation as a field dominated by men but that is not the case now,” she said.

Earlier, Mrs Segilola Guobadia, a past President of Zonta Lagos Club 1, said the Amelia Earhart Day was part of the various programmes organised to support young girls to become great in the society.

“Zonata is all about girls and women empowerment and we organise programmes in various sectors just to encourage young ones to be the best they can.

“We will continue to support women and the girl child by building a better world for them,” she said.

Also, Mrs Kate Nnanna-Ibemgbo, the Coordinator of the event and also an airspace inspector, said the aim of the event was to educate and encourage young girls to look to careers in the Aerospace world.

She said: “For 85 years, Zonta International has given out fellowship awards and celebrated the most famed Zontian Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic.

“We continue to do this by educating and encouraging young girls to look to careers in the Aerospace World.”

NAN reports that the all female panelists included a pilot, an air flight engineer, air traffic control, aeromedical personnel and air hostesses.

NAN reports that Funmilola Oluwafemi, a Space Bio-Scientist, was presented with a certificate of Zonata International Fellow 2022 at the event. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

 

Edited by Chidinma Agu/Idris Abdulrahman

WMO set to enhance awareness toward tackling climate change in Africa

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By Gabriel Agbeja

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says it is ready to enhance awareness toward tackling climate change in Africa.

Dr Agnes Kijazi, WMO Regional Director for Africa, made the assertion on Friday in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

According to her, WMO will continue to enhance its advocacy and awareness to the communities in the region of the extreme weather events through early warning and anticipatory actions.

“You may know that Africa is vulnerable to extreme weather events with attendant socio-economic impacts. We will continue to enhance our advocacy and awareness to our communities of extreme weather events through early warning and anticipatory actions.

“You are probably aware of the mandate from the UN Secretary-General to WMO to ensure that every citizen in the world receives an early warning in the next five years.

“We have started this process with a ministerial meeting held in Maputo, Mozambique, in September 2022, and we intend to escalate this to the rest of the other regional economic communities,“ she said.

She said WMO Regional Office was saddled with responsibility to assist Members in developing National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to enable them to play their full role in economic and social development of their countries.

She said the regional office was also assisting members to utilize the services of the Regional Offices to develop and strengthen their NMHSs.

The director stated that the office constantly added value to NMHSs in Africa by improving the services they provided to their stakeholders in order to fulfill mandated.

“The office is currently advocating using digital technologies for effective and efficient service delivery to provide early warning services for all in National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

“ In addition, such technologies are critical for digital data collection, processing and services delivery mechanisms, as well as data validation, data storage and handling.

“ WMO Secretary-General , Prof. Petteri Taalas, wants more proactive Regional Offices in line with Regional Offices Reform to ensure Regional office in Africa is more proactive as per that call,“ she said.

According to her, the regional office currently facilitates more than 10 projects foster on sustainable development by strengthening the climate services value chain at the regional and national levels.

Kijazi said the efforts were to improve adaptive capacity and resilience to current climate variability and change among targeted farmers, agro-pastoralists and pastoralist communities.

“Also, to enhance capacities in NMHSs in the provision and utilisation of weather and climate services in countries, to modernise meteorological services through digital transformation of data management and to enhance climate services among others.“

She said the regional office was in partnership with other regional and international Organizations as part of its core functions in line with the WMO Reforms process on comprehensive review of the WMO Regional Concept and Approaches.

The director said the concept to deliver with sister UN agencies was to strengthen collaboration in the core activities.

According to Kijazi, the regional office recommends capacity development programmes of its staff to the WMO Human Resources through indication from prospective staff as outlined in the training plan or opportunities from external projects and activities.

She said the office also coordinated NMHSs’ training of their staff through various workshops and WMO Education and Training Programmes.

“The main current challenge is in relation to the regional reforms as highlighted in congress resolutions. We are setting strategic priorities to address this challenge through coordination and supporting Members.

`This is to enable them to implement congress and executive council decisions and minimize the existing gap in observations and Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems and service delivery. 

“I have resumed and still assessing activities in the Office to further ascertain what challenges are confronting the Office through the monitoring and evaluation process,“ she said.

Kijazi described her new appointment as the Director of the WMO Regional Office for Africa as new task that really worth it. 

“ I have been involved in many leadership roles previously, and my appointment as the Director of the WMO Regional Office for Africa is a new challenge and opportunity for me.

“You may note that I was the Director General of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority and the Third Vice President of WMO.

“ So, I wish to bring these leadership and management skills to the administration of the Regional Office for Africa,“ she added.

NAN reports that Dr Agnes Kijazi resumed office on Dec.10, 2022 as a new Director for WMO Regional Office for Africa. (NNA)(www.nanews.ng)

========

Edited by Isaac Aregbesola

Operator urges FG to create legacy of special funding for local airlines

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By Kingsley Okoye

Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), has urged the Federal Government to leave a legacy by providing a window of special funding for aviation sector operators.

Okonkwo made the call in Abuja on Thursday, while speaking at a retreat organised by management of United Nigeria Airlines to mark its two- year operation in the aviation industry.

The retreat, with the theme: “Positioning United Nigeria for Value Creation and Retention”, was organised for management staff of the company.

Okonkwo said the call for provision of special funding for operators in aviation became necessary, given its essential duty nature and its growing contribution to the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“We are just asking for a special funding window that should be of a single digit and that is easily accessible, not necessarily on paper, but it is not accessible.

“We still believe that this government has done a lot for the aviation industry, though, more needs to be done and we think that the bigger legacy that this government will leave for the aviation industry is to ensure that the operators survive.

“No operator should go under, rather let there be new operators in the business of aviation.”

He said the indigenous airline operators had been very patriotic and contributed immensely to growth of the nation’s GDP.

“We are very patriotic Nigerians, who have contributed so much to the GDP of the nation, giving employment; it is a sector that I advise this government and in coming government to take very seriously.

“If properly harnessed, it will be a great source of foreign exchange for the country, especially if the local operators should be empowered; this industry, we believe remains a critical and essential industry that should be treated as such.

“This industry can not survive further at the regular commercial rates; we know that there are privileges’ given to sectors like agriculture and others, aviation should be considered also.”

According to Okonkwo, the airline transportation required a special attention.

“If this is done, I have no doubt that the operators will be stronger and further render better services to the people.”

He emphasised further that there was need for government to consider a special funding for the sector operators, saying that it was a win-win situation for both government and the operators and ultimately for the good of Nigerians.

“I also thought that the government should consider a window of “Special Funds” at a single unit loan for the operators, because it’s a win -win situation for the companies and the government.

“This is one sector that pays the government as they receive their own because every ticket that is issued, all agencies of government have their own.

“It creates high level, high powered employment, high skilled workers that pay good income tax to the government, and so this is one of the sectors that should be taken seriously and the operators are happy to work out all the new arrangement with the government.

“If this capital is provided, the individual airlines will access it as par their needs and then capitalise individually.

“This is because there is a capital you should have as a domestic operator and the required capital, if you are going international or regional routes.

“So you can imagine, a situation where you go to the bank today and access naira loan at the rate of 25 to 30 per cent and then you go back to the foreign exchange window and buy it at the rate of N750, you just basically operate for nothing.”

Okonkwo said that the United Airlines management was committed to further improving on its performance going further in spite of the challenges experienced in the past year.

The Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of the airline, Mr Osita Okonkwo, said the company’s strategy of going forward was to continue on its growth path.

He said in spite of the challenges, the company survived, saying that it was grateful to God, the traveling public and the regulators, that had kept fate with the company.

He said the company, in 2023 and beyond, would continue to excel and improve its service to the traveling public and customers, focus on its equipment to ensure its fleet was up to date.

According to him, the company has a massive expansion programme in the fleet area in numbers and aircraft.

“We have started already with A 320, which is already flying, more will join the fleet,

“We are expanding our destinations; we have the objective of having a footprint in every airport in Nigeria; we are about to start Jos and Benin and other towns in the North- East and North-West will follow.

“We are going outside Nigeria, we are moving regionally, we are going through the regulatory process now; we have gotten our airline carriers permit.

“We have gotten designations to a number of countries, which will be announced soon,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

===============
Edited by Idris Abdulrahman

FG implements adaptation measures to reduce impact of climate change- Sirika

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Presentation of 2023 Seasonal Climate Predictions in Abuja

By Gabriel Agbeja

The Minster of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, says the Federal Government is deepening efforts to implement adaptation measures to reduce impact of climate change on vulnerable Nigerians.

Sirika made this known in Abuja in his keynote address at the presentation of 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and other Publications.

According to him, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) is contributing to the adaptation measures by providing timely meteorological information regularly.

“The Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) is an essential early warning tool for planning against the effect of climate change and variability in all weather -sensitive sectors of the economy.

“The information also helps in taking advantage of favourable climatic conditions to improve performance, especially in agriculture.

“The SCP provides vital meteorological information on temperature, rainfall pattern, onset of the season, end of season, length of season and their impacts on socio-economic activities in the country,“ he said.

Sirika said experience over the years had proved that the application of the early warning information helped in increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to extreme weather events

He said that over the years, NiMet had progressively improved on the coverage and quality of data collection and predictions.

According to him, the agency has also incorporated the interpretation of the forecast into three major languages of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo as well as improved downscaling of the forecast all over the country.

“NiMet with the support of the Federal Ministry of Aviation will continue to demonstrate its capacity and commitment to provide quality and timely services in line with its mandate.

“Nigeria is an active member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and therefore the agency is also committed to fulfil its international obligations.

“Our stakeholders in all-weather sensitive sectors like agriculture, aviation, maritime, environment, water resources, energy, engineering tourism and the public will find information in SCP very vital in their various operational and decision-making activities, “ he said.

The minister stated that Nigeria was playing its own part in the global effort to combat climate change regarding compliance with the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

“Also by submitting the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) secretariat in July 2021.

“The updated NDC, re-stated the actions the country is committed to taking to limit global warming and climate change,“ the minister said.

The NiMey’s Director- General, Prof. Mansur Matazu said SCP provided a snapshot of some essential climate parameters and their behaviour within the season.

According to him, NiMet produces the publication annually in fulfilment of its mandate to provide accurate, timely and quality weather and climate information to advise the federal, states and local governments in the country.

“So also it provides the public weather and climate-related issues. The information provided in the SCP is tailored mainly to boost economic growth and prevent loses due to severe weather phenomena.

“The production process of the SCP involves scientific use of long-term meteorological data with state-of- the-art prediction models.

“Furthermore, a co-production process involving relevant stakeholders such as agriculture, aviation, construction, water resources, health, trade and tourism among others was implemented to achieve these remarkable user-tailored forecast,“ he said. (NAN) (www.nanenws.ng)

Edited by Grace Yussuf

Aviation sector complaints 3rd highest in 2022 — FCCPC

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By Oladele Eniola

 

The Federal Competition, Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Sunday said that complaints on Nigeria’s Aviation Industry ranked third in the list of those it received in 2022.

Dr Adams Abdullahu, Director of Operations, FCCPC, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Abdullahu said that complaints on various incidents in the sector account for 674 of the 13,580 received by the commission in 2022.

He said that the aviation sector complaints came behind those on financial services  — 5,709, and the Electricity and Power sector  — 3,293.

The director said that complaints received about the aviation sector were on delays, cancellations, pilfered baggage, lost baggage and airport experience.

He said complaints were also received on the general condition of the terminals, cooling system and discourteous service, among others.

Abdullahi said that airlines did not communicate properly with their customers.

”Most times, if you explain to passengers what the problem is, they can understand, but operators don’t tell public what is actually going on with their operations.

“You buy a ticket, sit in the airport for unending hours, you don’t even get any sort of information on the status of your flight and that really angers passengers.

“If you usually carry them along and tell them, these are the challenges that you are facing, it brings down the tempers and that is always what we encourage our service providers to do and they should do that also”

The Operations Director noted that the commission was working on a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and all sectors of consumer protection to address the lapses in the sector.

Meanwhile, he listed other sectors on which fewer complaints received and the numbers.

They include Telecommunications, with 605;  E-commerce with 508; Electrical electronics with 415; Food and Beverages with 222; Satellite and Cable services with 122.

Also listed are, Postal and Courier service with 71; Road transport with 69; Land and Construction with 65; Real estate with 63; Health services with 52: Education with 29, among others.

He said that 3,327 complaints were resolved out of the total number of complaints that that were received by the commission.

“In the corresponding year, which was 2021, the commission received 10,178 complaints and resolved 1,990

“Financial services also topped the list with 2,736 complaints followed by electricity/power with 3043, telecommunications with 510, Aviation with 459 and Electrical/Electronic with 502,” he said. (NAN)

 

Edited by Oluwole Sogunle

AIB investigates Air Peace Boeing 737-300 aircraft burst tyre — says official

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By Yunus Yusuf

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Nigeria says it has begun investigation into the  Air Peace Boeing 737-300 aircraft that had a burst tyre, while landing on Runway 18R , on Monday, in Lagos.

AIB’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Tunji Oketunbi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday, in Lagos.

Oketunbi said the incident occurred as the plane was landing on Runway 18R on Monday, carrying 127 passengers and six crew members from Abuja Airport en route Lagos, but landed without causalities.

He said: “The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria has been notified and commenced investigation into a serious incident.

“This incident involves a Boeing 737-300 with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BUQ operated by Air Peace Airline, which occurred around 9.31 p.m. (Local Time) on March 8, 2021.

“The aircraft, with 127 passengers and six crew members onboard, was en route Lagos from Abuja.

“The aircraft had a burst tyre on landing on Runway 18R of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, and taxied to GAT to park. There was no injury or fatality.”

Oketunbi said that AIB required assistance of the public in the course of its investigation into the accident, explaining that it was open to receiving any video clips, relevant evidence, or information on the incident from any member of the public.

“Kindly contact us on our official communication channels: Mobile App: AIB-N, Website: www.aib.gov.ng, Twitter: @aibnigeria, Instagram: @AIB_Nigeria.

“Facebook: AIB Nigeria, Email: commissioner@aib.gov.ng, SMS/WhatsApp: +234807 709 0900, 0807 709 0928,” he said.

He added that the bureau would, however, appreciate respect for the privacy of the people involved, by both the public and the media, and not to assume the cause of the accident, until a formal report was released.

The general manager said, however, that the agency would soon release its preliminary report on the incident. (NAN)

Airport police smash fake COVID-19 certificate racketeers

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By Yunus Yusuf

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says it has arrested five suspected syndicates, forging fake COVID-19 certificates.

The Commissioner of Police, Airport Command and Aviation Security (AVSEC ) CP Umar Bature disclosed the arrest on Thursday at a news  briefing held at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Lagos State Government on Dec. 29, 2020,  raised alarm over alleged sale of fake COVID-19 test results in the state.

The government warned that processes were being put in place to clamp down on both buyers and sellers.

Bature said that out of the five suspects, 35-year old Adewale Aderele was an alleged  guarantor to one of the suspects who was now at large.

The  syndicates included: Archibong Idorenyin, 34, owner of DAT  Cyber Cafe, who allegedly forged the Virology Screening test results, Abdulmalik Ibrahim (24) and Moses Sunday (20) who are staff of DAT Internet Cafe.

The other suspect was Popoola Adewale of Patovilki Airport cleaning services.

Two of the suspects, 35-year-old Shehu Imam, who allegedly took illicit assignments from the airport to DAT internet cafe for the generation of  fake COVID-19 certificates and Adeola Darlington of Skyblue Services Ltd. were now at large.

According to the commissioner, they  also lure passengers to the airport where various sums are extorted from them. In this case, N50, 000.

“On Feb. 18, Popoola Adewale and Adeola Darlington who have access to all the nooks and crannies of the international airport, approached one Michael Osagbogu who was on a queue of a  London bound aircraft and allegedly offers to help him procure  COVID-19 certificate.

“They however, cornered the passenger to an isolated toilet at the airport where N50, 000 was extorted from him.

“Thereafter, the victim was handed over to Shehu Imam who took him to Archibong Idorenyin, owner of the internet cafe at 4, Oriyomi Street Ikeja.”

According to the commissioner, some of the suspects have taken to their heels but concerted efforts are being made by the combined team of detectives of the airport police command and AVSEC  to track them down.

He also informed that the suspects confessed to the crime and exhibits, including N50,000 and laptops used to generate the fake COVID-19 certificates as well as the certificates being used as exhibits.

“They will soon be charged to court where justice will take its course,” Umar promised.

The airport police command however, warned that the public should follow due process in obtaining or procuring COVID-19 certificates to avoid unscrupulous syndicates.

The CP said the suspects would be charged to court on Friday morning. (NAN)

COVID-19: Arik Air seeks priority vaccination for aviation workers

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By Taiye Olayemi

Capt. Roy Ilegbodu, Chief Executive Officer, Arik Air, has called for the immediate vaccination of aviation workers as COVID-19 frontline workers.

Ilegbodu made this call when he hosted the Publisher of Atqnews and organiser AKWAABA Africa Travel and Tourism Market, Mr Ikechi Uko, at his office on Wednesday in Lagos.

Ilegbodu, in a statement issued by Uko, said that prompt vaccination of aviation workers would help keep the economy running and enable people travel knowing they were safe.

Uko was at Arik Air office to deliver an invitation for the annual Abuja Jabamah travellers award which Arik Air had been chosen as the Nigerian airline of the decade, from 2010 to 2020.

He said the award was slated for March 27, as he justified the choice of Arik Air as the airline of choice.

“Arik Air started operations in 2006 and was once the biggest airline in West Africa with 30 aircraft in its fleet.

”’The fleets were flying to London-UK, New York-USA, Johannesburg, South Africa, Dakar, Senegal, Banjul, Gambia, Accra-Ghana and Dubai-UAE along with numerous domestic operations.

“Today, it flies mainly within Nigeria, from the fleet it inherited, many aircrafts are grounded but effectively using six aircrafts.

“Since the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took over the airline in 2017, many of the leased aircraft have been returned to the owners or has been repossessed through court orders.

“Four planes were returned to France and two classic airplanes abandoned in Europe were seized by an European supplier.

”Out of the two A340 planes, one was parked at the airport in Lagos while the other was in storage in France,” he said.

Uko noted that three aircraft were recovered by the Canadian Export Development Bank, as a B737-800 went for C-check in Lithuania and there was now an attempt by Lufthansa to seize it.

He said another B737-800 had been abandoned in South Africa and so many creditors were trying to seize as many of the assets as they could lay their hands on.

“In spite of all these troubles, Arik Air is still the biggest airline brand out of Nigeria, even with the shrunk fleet, it is still one of the biggest airlines in West Africa.

“It has three Q400 aircraft, two CRJ-900, one B737-700 and another B737-700 is expected back from checks soon.

“Before AMCON took over Arik, it was indebted to a lot of firms, they are all trying to seize one asset or another, so far, the managers have managed the situation well.

” Arik is in receivership and inherited 2,500 staff but now has 1,600 on payroll, 900 of those are at home because of the COVID-19 lockdown fallout.

”Some are being called back as soon as more activities are added, they are paid some allowances while at home,” he said.

Uko noted that the airline had so far proved resilient as well as demystified the myth that no Nigerian airline with 10 aircraft last beyond 10 years.

He said it was hoped that Arik recovers and grows back to be the pride of Nigeria that it used to be.

” Arik is still a global brand from Nigeria, Kudos goes to the Founders of the Airline and the workers who helped build the brand,” he said.

In his response, Capt. Ilegbodu thanked the organisers for the honour and promised that Arik Air would attend the awards in Abuja.

He also commended the organisers for their consistency in promoting travel and tourism in Nigeria. (NAN)

Air Peace resumes Lagos – Accra flights March 15- Official

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By Yusuf  Yunus

The Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace, says it will resume its daily flight operations from the Lagos hub into Accra on March 15.

The airline Spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, said that Lagos-Accra flight would depart daily at 7.00 a.m, while Accra-Lagos flight would depart at 7.40 a.m.

He said that the resumption of Accra flights was in response to the popular demand, as the flying public have been anticipating it.

“You would recall that we suspended our Accra flights consequent upon the pandemic lockdown last year.

“But, we have some exciting news for our esteemed customers as we are resuming flight operations into the Ghanaian city pretty soon.

“The flying public have been expectant of this,” he said.

Olisa, also expressed the readiness of Air Peace to kick off the scheduled flights into Ilorin from Abuja and Lagos.

According to him, the airline is already finalising plans to commence Ilorin flights soon.

He reiterated the Air Peace’s commitment to providing peaceful connectivity across the domestic, regional and international destinations and satisfying the air travel needs of Nigerians.

NAN reports that Air Peace is an indigenous airline servicing 16 domestic routes, five regional routes and two international destinations including Johannesburg.

It also has a varied fleet of 26 aircraft comprising the ultra-modern Embraer 195-E2 jet, Boeing 777, Embraer 145, Boeing 737 and Dornier 328 jet. (NAN)

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