Air Peace has refuted claims made by Hadi Sirika, former
minister of aviation, that it lost $19 million from parking two leased Boeing
777 aircraft for several months.
In a statement on Monday, signed by Toyin Olajide, chief
operating officer (COO), the airline said the claims made by the minister were
spurious.
Recall that on Sunday, reported that Sirika discussed issues
relating to Nigeria Air and the country’s general aviation sector on Arise TV.
“Nigerians can remember when I stood up for Air Peace and
ensured they must be going to Dubai. Are they going now? No! Why? No capacity,”
He had said.
The former minister also said Air Peace “leased two Boeing
777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000, parked the aircraft for
several months and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft
engines and landing gears became due for replacement when we were ready to
fly”.
Speaking on the allegations in the statement, Olajide said
the airline has three Boeing 777 aircraft, which it purchased outrightly.
“This is a blatant lie as we have three and not two Boeing
777 aircraft which were never leased or rented, but were purchased outrightly
by the airline,” she said.
“Air Peace never
incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals contrary to his lies. The Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can attest to the purchase and ownership of the
aircraft by Air Peace.”
Also responding to the allegation that the airline stopped
flying to Dubai because of a lack of capacity, the COO said “Air Peace never
stopped the Dubai operations because of lack of capacity”.
She said the airline commenced operations into the UAE in
July, 2019, but in October 2022, the UAE government announced a total visa ban
on Nigerians,” she said.
“Neither Emirates nor Air Peace is operating the
Nigerian/UAE route since the ban. The persisting non-issuance of visas and the
accompanying inconveniences necessitated the suspension of our Dubai operations
from November 22, 2022, till date.
“For the former
minister to ascribe the suspension to ‘lack of capacity’ is not only shocking
but also shows how keen he is to disparage an airline which (sic) ascendancy
has defied all the commercial odds and hostile environment placed on its path
to continue to serve our nation proudly.
“How could an airline that placed a firm order for 13 brand
new E2-195 aircraft, a firm order of 15 Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 10, with over
30 aircraft already in its existing fleet be accused of lacking in capacity?
“How can an airline that stood up for the entire nation
during the Covid-19 outbreak, and embarked on rescue operations worldwide,
evacuating Nigerians from faraway China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India,
UK, and South Africa during the Covid-19 lockdowns be accused of lacking in
capacity?
“We implore the general public to disregard these lies told
by the former minister of aviation against Air Peace during the Arise TV
Interview.”
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