Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has announced that his government is talking to Air Peace (P4, Lagos) about commencing scheduled flights to/from Lagos by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Browne made the comment during a recent parliamentary session, saying, according to a video recording posted online: "I believe too that, perhaps by the fourth quarter of this year, Air Peace will commence a scheduled flight between Antigua and Barbuda and Lagos. So those discussions are still ongoing."

ch-aviation has reached out to Air Peace for comment.

Jamaican news site WiredJa Online News reported that Browne made the remark during a parliamentary discussion on the ratification of an air services agreement between Antigua & Barbuda and Rwanda. He said similar bilateral agreements would be finalised with Ghana and other West African nations in the coming months.

In August and October 2023, Air Peace operated two charter flights to Antigua & Barbuda. This followed the short-lived Antigua Airways (Antigua), which operated charter flights from West Africa to the island nations in November and December 2022. That initiative ended abruptly amid serious concerns about passenger vetting and allegations of human trafficking. The Antiguan government suspended the flights in January 2023 to review passenger protocols.

Antigua Airways was a private-public partnership between Nigerian online travel agency Wakanow, African aviation services provider Aerostatus, and Nigerian printing and publishing firm Marvellous Mike Press Limited. The Antigua & Barbuda government owned 20% through the Eastern Caribbean Commonwealth state's Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP).

Browne acknowledged these past challenges: "We've learned lessons from past experiences and have implemented better controls." He emphasised that the new Air Peace partnership aims to attract "genuine, wealthy tourists from Nigeria."

Air Peace Caribbean has acquired a 70% majority stake in LIAT 2020 (5L, Antigua), which is 30% owned by the Antigua & Barbuda government, providing inter-island connectivity and with ambitious expansion plans. LIAT 2020 follows the collapse of predecessor LIAT (Antigua and Barbuda) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air Peace Caribbean has been at pains to distance itself from its Nigerian namesake and the carrier's chairman and CEO Allen Onyema, after the US authorities issued an arrest warrant and indicted him for obstruction of justice. However, the company's protestations are an exercise in smoke and mirrors. While Onyema himself is not involved in Air Peace Caribbean, the airline's five private shareholders include Alice Onyema, Air Peace Nigeria's vice-chairwoman and Allen Onyema's wife of 31 years, and their four children Nnenna, Chinonso, Obinna, and Ugochukwu. Some of the shareholders in Air Peace Caribbean are also directors at Air Peace Nigeria.