West and Central Africa’s largest airline, Air Peace, has expanded its Asian footprints with the commencement of direct scheduled commercial flights into Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

This came even as the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, lauded the airline’s giant strides.

The inaugural flight, operated with one of the airline’s B777s, was airborne from Kano at 23:22hrs with 231 passengers.

Air Peace, before now, has been operating charter flights to Saudi Arabia, airlifting Muslim pilgrims. But this inaugural flight officially kicked off its scheduled operations into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Chairman of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, described the entry into Jeddah as ‘another milestone recorded in the annals of Nigeria’s aviation history’, stating that Jeddah is the airline’s sixth international destination in just nine years of launching commercial flight operations.

He noted that with the entry into Jeddah, Air Peace has increased its presence on the Asian continent.

“This is huge, not just for Air Peace but for Nigeria. We are undoubtedly exemplifying our ambition of connecting Nigeria to the world with world-class flight services.

“Air Peace is on a mission to easing the air travel burden for Nigerians and plugging the connectivity gaps that have hitherto existed.

“We are happy to be serving as a means of solidifying socio-economic ties between Nigeria and other countries of the world,” Onyema said.

He noted that, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have co-existed smoothly, with religious tourism being a key driver of this relationship and stressed that with the launch of scheduled nonstop flights to Jeddah, the airline hopes to further deepen the bilateral ties between both countries, boost both economies and advance mutual development.

The airline boss expressed gratitude to the Emir of Kano, who facilitated with the airline during its recent 9th Anniversary. Describing the Emir as a bridge-builder, he applauded him for his contributions to nation-building, adding that the nation needs more of such people.

While thanking the Saudi Arabian authorities, travel partners and the Nigerian Government for making the launch possible, Onyema emphasised that Air Peace is modernising and increasing its fleet, as it signed a firm order for five brand new E175 aircraft in September, in addition to the existing orders for 15 Boeing MAX aircraft to continue to give its customers an unequaled experience on board.

In his remarks, the Emir congratulated Air Peace for the Jeddah launch and lauded the airline for always blazing the trail in Nigeria’s aviation industry. He further commended Onyema for the impact he is creating in Nigeria through Air Peace.