Onyema and crew inside the Embraer |
The airline took delivery of the new aircraft at the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, two months after the first one arrived.
The Embraer, depending on specifications and classes can
seat between 120 and 146 passengers.
Onyema said the effect of COVID-19 has depleted the airline
capacity as most of the planes sent for C-Check have not returned because of
the pandemic lockdowns.
He hoped that before the end of July, all the aircraft would
be back in Nigeria.
“Air Peace is not the only airline that has been affected by
the pandemic worldwide, and Nigeria is not immune from those things that have
tried to destroy aviation worldwide.
“As I speak to you, we have about 20 of our aircraft still
in maintenance worldwide because of the effects of COVID19.
“Most of the countries where these planes were taken to are
in various levels of lockdown and as a result, the pace of work on our planes
has slowed down.
“This has depleted our capacity both within and outside
Nigeria.
“We are not alone in this; all the older airlines are
experiencing the same thing,” Onyema said.
Onyema said that the vision of the airline to continue to
provide seamless connections to passengers locally and internationally is
alive.
“What you are witnessing today is the power of a vision.
When we started in 2014, we knew that by 2017, we would start acquiring the
B777 jets.
“When the time came, we became the first airline in Nigeria
to acquire the Boeing 777 and now, we have three of such jets.
“When it was time to service airports with low traffic like
Minna, Akure, Makurdi, Jalingo and other places, we acquired eight 50-seater
Embraer 145 jets.
“While we were doing it, we didn’t lose sight of the need to
start planning for brand new jets.
“On Sept. 13, 2018, we became the first airline in
sub-Saharan Africa to pay for 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 and our order is still
intact, we won’t cancel it.
“We are the first in Africa to pay for 13 brand new planes
and we would be acquiring 17 more to make it 30.
“These planes shall be deployed to domestic and regional
routes.
“These jets are the best. If all the powers shut down while
30 feet above sea level, a RAM deploys automatically and the plane lands
effortlessly.
“The aircraft speaks to the pilot and the pilot speaks to it. By the time we get everything, we would be providing 8,000 jobs to Nigerians,” he added.
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