The Civil Aviation Authority in the United Kingdom has reported local airline operator Air Peace to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) over the airline’s alleged non-compliance with some safety regulations in the UK.
A spokesman for the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, told Channels Television on Monday that the regulator received some complaints from its British counterpart over Air Peace operations at the Gatwick Airport in London.
Achimugu said the safety concerns were raised during a ramp inspection by UKCAA.
It was learnt that two mandatory occurrence reports on Air Peace were sent to the UKCAA which subsequently forwarded the complaints to its Nigerian counterpart.
The NCAA spokesman noted that the authority had written Air Peace to clarify the issues raised about its operations at Gatwick.
Achimugu stressed that the complaints raised by the UKCAA fell under less serious categories of violations and not the Level 1 category which is for serious safety non-compliance.
The complaints do not mean that the airline can no longer operate at the Gatwick airport. The NCAA has communicated the complaints to the airline. Investigation is ongoing,” he said.
When contacted, Air Peace Spokesman Stanley Olisa simply said the airline would officially respond to the complaints.
On March 30, 2024, Air Peace reciprocated the lopsided Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom when the local airline began direct flight operations from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London.
On April 25, 2024, Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo gave approval for the airline to add Abuja to its London route.
The development has been applauded by many industry observers, with more local airlines being encouraged to commence international flights to profitable routes.
The price of an international flight ticket on the Lagos-London route was as high as N3.5 million, but with Air Peace pegging a return economy class ticket for N1.2 million, foreign airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways have been forced to slash their prices to stay competitive.
The entrance of Air Peace on the London route has sparked a price war, with foreign carriers now underpricing to stay in business. Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema had slammed foreign carriers for “devilish conspiracy” to frustrate the airline out of the route.
