Emir of Kano Commends Air Peace for Inaugural Flights to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
The Emir of Kano, HRH Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, has applauded the giant strides of Air Peace with the commencement of direct scheduled commercial flights into Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday October 31, 2023.
The inaugural flight, operated with one of the airline’s B777s, was airborne from Kano at 23:22hrs with 231 passengers.
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.
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.
At the event, 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.
Describing the Emir as a bridge-builder, Onyema applauded him for his contributions to nation-building, adding that the nation needs more of such people.
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 happy to be serving as a means of solidifying socio-economic ties between Nigeria and other countries of the world”.
Onyema said 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.
“Thus, we are very familiar with the terrain. Our Hajj operations this year were massive. Now, we are flying to Saudi Arabia not as a charter flight but as a regular scheduled operation.
“Air Peace is leaving no city behind, and this is beyond domestic operations. In line with this route expansion drive, we are also launching flight operations into London soon”.
The Air Peace helmsman expressed gratitude to the Emir of Kano, HRH Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero who felicitated with the airline during its recent 9th Anniversary.
While thanking the Saudi Arabian authorities, travel partners and the Nigerian Government for making the launch possible, Onyema emphasized that Air Peace is Modernizing and increasing its fleet, as it signed a firm order for 5 brand new E175 aircraft in September, in addition to the existing orders for 15 Boeing MAX aircraft to continue to give its customers an unequalled experience on board.