The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has frowned at continued delays and cancellations of flights by AirPeace, urging the airline to improve on its domestic operations.
But the airline, on the other hand, said it had no regret cancelling or delaying flights to ensure the safety of human lives in adherence to air safety standards.
This is contained in a statement by the Head of Corporate Communications at Air Peace, Ejike Ndiulo, in Lagos.
The Director General of NCAA, during a meeting with management, strongly advised the airline to trim its operations to the size of available aircraft presently in its fleet to mitigate the crisis.
The DGCA asserted that, while the NCAA will continue to support the airlines, the operators MUST comply with the regulations and global best practices.
He warned that the NCAA is increasing its monitoring of flight operations across all airlines to ensure compliance.
Meanwhile, a passenger in an anonymous post online said “Air Peace situation should attract sanctions instead of warning because it’s becoming a regular practice by them.”
He said “I had a scheduled flight for 7pm from Lagos to Abuja on Thursday. The flight was moved from 7pm to 10pm, we didn’t complain. At 9.58pm they served us a Solo Coke and one biscuit. I immediately told my wife they are about to shift the flight again.”
“True to my prediction, we were told that the flight has been moved to 11.59pm. We still didn’t complain but by 11.58pm, one of their staff came to apologize for the delay and informed us that the Aircraft to convey us to Abuja was delayed in Abuja due to bad weather and unscheduled maintenance and as soon as it takes off, we will be informed.”
“That was when all hell was let loose and some passengers almost ate him raw. Those who had a choice simply left and abandoned the flight but those of us without a choice stayed back and by the time we eventually took off at 1am, the aircraft was almost half empty.”
However, the airline, in response to the warnings by NCAA, said they operate in accordance with its available aircraft, insinuating that the airline was operating more routes than its available aircraft.
The airline insisted that there was no time it cancelled a flight for the fun of it, saying “safety is and will always remain our cardinal priority. These delays and cancellations are dictated by safety considerations.”
The airline also said its business priority isn’t profit but safety, though it has more aircraft than the authority schedules daily.
Also on the warning that they should cut their coat by their size, Air Peace emphasized it had more aircraft than scheduled for operations daily.
While asserting that the reason that often leads to flight cancellations and delays is beyond the control of any airline, Air Peace emphasized that such decisions are taken in the interest of the passengers.
“It is to be stated that every decision Air Peace has taken since the inception of this airline, whether resulting in a delay, cancellation, or suspension of flight, has been taken in the best interest of safety. And if such situations occur again, we will do the same because we are not ready to compromise safety.
“We do not cancel any flight for the fun of it. It is not our policy to delay or cancel flights without due cause, and when we do, we are often the greater loser financially,” they stated.
