Nigeria’s leading carrier, Air Peace, has reduced its flight operations in response to the adverse effects of Coronavirus.
Mrs Toyin Olajide, the airline’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), made the announcement after an emergency meeting with top management staff of the company in Lagos on Thursday.
Olajide said the airline also took the decision to cut down its flights following a tremendous decline in passenger traffic and the need to cut costs.
Olajide explained that the airline had reviewed its operations in the face of the disease which the World Health Organisation (W.H.O) had already declared as a global pandemic.
She said the management also announced several measures aimed at addressing the adverse effects occasioned by the disease.
Olajide said: “Air Peace, as a result of the adverse effects of the Coronavirus on passenger traffic, has today taken the hard decision to downsize our flight operations in order to cut the mounting costs occasioned by the pandemic.
“As a result of this development, the airline will be suspending its operations to Dakar-Senegal and Monrovia-Liberia.
“The airline is also reducing the Freetown-Sierra Leone operations and Banjul-Gambia operations to one flight a week.”
She said that the airline would also be reducing its operations into Accra from Lagos to just two flights daily and suspend its Abuja-Accra operations.
Olajide said on the domestic scene, the airline would reduce its frequencies while at the same time restruce its operations by deploying hoppers to more airports.
She noted that the international operations into Dubai through Sharjah International airport would be suspended from next week.
Olajide explained that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had also closed down its airports to nationals from other countries including but not limited to Nigeria.
