Air Peace begins daily flights to Ilorin
By Yunus Yusuf
Air Peace has commenced daily flights from Lagos to Ilorin and Ilorin to Abuja as part of its expansion drive and realisation of its goal to connect major cities in Nigeria.
Mr Stanley Olisa, Media Executive Officer of the airline, disclosed this in Lagos on Thursday.
Olisa said that the inaugural P47110 flight from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, landed at the Ilorin International Airport by 11:00 a.m amidst excitement from stakeholders including Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq represented by his Deputy, Chief Kayode Alabi.
Olisa said that Alhaji Ota Aliyu Uthman, National President of the Ilorin Emirates Descendants Progressive Union, representing Ilorin indigenes at home and in the Diaspora, was on ground to welcome the flight.
The Safety Manager of the Airline, Capt. Godfrey Ogbogu, who represented the Chairman of the airline, Mr Allen Onyema, said that the commencement of the flights signified provision of more network options and connectivity for the people in the Middle Belt region.
Ogbogu also described the daily flights into Ilorin as “a momentous feat”, saying it would boost the economy of the state and generate employment.
He said: “If you have been keeping tabs on the trajectory of Air Peace, you will have noticed our strategic and consistent route network expansion.
“This is driven by our unwavering resolve to plug the gaps in Nigeria’s air travel and, more importantly, give the Nigerian flying public multiple network options.
“We are famed for our ‘no-city-level-behind’ initiative. The goal, really, is to interconnect various cities in Nigeria and beyond to tremendously impact the country’s economic indices.
“This explains why we have also extended our wings to Ilorin.
“With the support of the state government under the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, whom we are profusely grateful to, Air Peace is promising the people of Ilorin and its environs seamless and affordable air travel.”
According to him, Air Peace a socially-sensitive and responsive airline and has constantly reviewed its route network vis-à-vis the public needs while factoring strategic ways of expanding it to provide enormous value to Nigerians.
“That is precisely what today’s inaugural flight into Ilorin represents.
“As we commence daily flights into Ilorin today, we are promising that this new route will be optimally serviced and Nigerians, especially Ilorin residents, will vastly benefit from it.
“We also pledge to work concertedly with all the stakeholders in the state, aviation regulator, airport administrator and, of course, the state government, to ensure we maximise the gains of air travel and sustain the impact.”
He solicited continued support and cooperation of all stakeholders for the airline to keep soaring high.
In his remarks read by his deputy, the governor hailed the airline for taking the decision.
He said that the Air Peace flights would support the state’s drive toward industrialisation.
The governor said that the inaugural flight testified to how the state had evolved as a new investment destination in Nigeria.
He promised that the state government would provide the requisite support and encouragement for the airline to succeed on Ilorin route.
The Vice-President, National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies, South-West Zone, Comrade Ezekiel Afolabi, commended Air Peace for connecting Ilorin.
He urged the airline to replicate same in other states in South West.
