Air Peace is expanding its already extensive route network further east and solidifying Nigeria’s relationship with China through the introduction of direct weekly flights to the Asian nation’s city of Guangzhou. The inaugural flight took place on Wednesday at about 22:00 hours.
The maiden flight took off from the newly commissioned terminal of the International wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on the airline’s Boeing 777 aircraft with two hundred and forty (240) elated passengers on board.
Commenting on the milestone on the day of the maiden flight, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Air Peace, Oluwatoyin Olajide shared her thoughts: “Now we can confidently assert that Air Peace has kept to its vision of providing seamless connections and expanding its existing network to accommodate the air travel needs of the flying public. Today we’re officially adding the continent of Asia to our network with the commencement of initial one-weekly flights to Guangzhou – China”, she said.
She went on to add that Air Peace’ customers can expect nothing but a seamless travel experience owing to the airline’s familiarity with the Chinese airspace – familiarity which was born out of the airline’s prior involvement in a number of evacuation and special flight operations carried out by the carrier in the said airspace, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
The COO further said that the flying public should expect an increase in flight frequency on the same route, and divulged Air Peace’ plans of expanding its operations to India, Israel, Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo; with plans of also connecting Shanghai and Beijing from Nigeria via interline agreements.
Commenting on how this new development will affect relations with China, Olajide said: “Direct flights between Nigeria and China will strengthen the bond between the two countries and increase the revenue generated by the two economies. This is a relationship Air Peace has been able to cement. For the time being, the flights will occur weekly due to COVID-19 restrictions, but we are definitely hoping for more frequencies as protocols are relaxed”, she said.
