Nigeria's Air Peace defends flight delays on safety grounds

Air Peace (P4, Lagos) has defended its flight delays and cancellations as primarily due to safety considerations, not fleet shortages, after the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) took the airline to task, directing it to scale down its operations to match its available fleet.

Following a meeting on May 2 with Air Peace's management, NCAA Director General Chris Najomo said he had tasked the airline with immediately improving its domestic operations following "complaints of chronic flight delays and cancellations by the travelling public." He urged Air Peace to reduce operations to match its current available fleet size to address the ongoing disruptions. He also emphasised the need for regulatory compliance and warned of increased NCAA monitoring across all airlines.

In a responding statement published by local media, Air Peace affirmed its commitment to safety, addressing what it termed "misrepresentations" of its operational capacity. It disputed claims suggesting it lacked sufficient aircraft, asserting it has more planes than are used daily.

Citing a recent bird strike that disrupted multiple routes, the airline stressed that it does not cancel or delay flights without valid reasons and emphasised its policy of prioritising safety over profit or convenience. On May 2, Air Peace flight P47103 between Enugu and Lagos encountered a bird strike on takeoff, necessitating technical checks and resulting in delays on the airline's network.

According to ch-aviation Commercial Aviation Aircraft Data data, 23 of Air Peace's fleet of 28 aircraft are currently AOG, leaving it with five in-house aircraft in service, plus four A320-200s wet-leased from SmartLynx Airlines, SmartLynx Airlines Estonia, and SmartLynx Airlines Malta.

At least eight Air Peace aircraft remain in maintenance or storage outside of Nigeria, it being among the Nigerian carriers that have sent aircraft outside the country for maintenance without the means to retrieve them due to a foreign exchange crunch in Nigeria.

ch-aviation has asked Air Peace for comment.