Nigeria’s Air Peace airline has continued to maintain its position as the pacesetter in airline business across the region as he added Lome, Togo to the number of its destinations within the region.
The airline in its latest policy of not leaving any country behind, operated its maiden flight to Lomé Tokoin International Airport (LFW) with its Embraer E195 which touched down at the airport around 839am.
The arrival of the aircraft was greeted with the water cannon salute from the Togolese aviation authorities with the delegate team led by the country’s minister of transport, Honourable Atcha Affoh who expressed the Togolese government delight at the coming of Air Peace.
Nigeria’s delegation at the West African country was led by the Nigerian ambassador to Togo, Adebowale Adesina who said he was extremely happy with the development, citing how on assumption of duty in Togo over two years ago that the first question that came to his mind was why there was no Nigerian airline operating into Togo.
“What we are looking at in the continent of Africa is to improve trades amongst ourselves and you cannot achieve that if there is no freedom of movement and that is why I pray that Air Peace finds the route a very profitable one. That will encourage some other airlines because when you have a monopoly like now only Asky flies Lagos/Lome even Abuja/Lome for now, so with the coming of Air Peace I believe not only will we have a better facilitation of trade between our countries, but of course across the West African region and also the cost of flying will come down, so am extremely happy.”
Speaking on behalf of Air Peace management, the safety manager, Captain Godfrey Ogbogu attributed the commencement of flights in between the two countries to the mission of the airline to ease air travels and bridge the connectivity gap among West African countries.
His words: “We’re quite delighted that Togo is joining our route network, making it eight regional routes in less than nine years since inception. Togo and Nigeria currently have strong socio-economic ties and both countries have collaborated on significant fronts. The launch of flights by Air Peace into Lome today has given credence to these ties and will foster commercial cooperation as well as deepen bilateral ties between both countries.
“Nigerians come to Togo for business and other purposes and the launch of this connectivity adds fillip to this economic exchange between both countries and also advances development. “We’re reputed for our no-city-left-behind initiative and this is not just for domestic operations. Our no-city-left-behind drive extends to the West Coast, as we’re poised to continually interconnect key cities in the sub-region, making it easy for Africans to maximise the payoffs of air travel for the collective development of all the nations.
“In keeping with this corporate ambition, we’re launching, very soon, flight operations into Cotonou in Benin Republic, Abidjan in Cote d’ivoire, Congo Kinshasa and Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. Before the end of 2023, some of these routes will have been launched, because they’re already in the works. Air Peace will continue to provide best-in-class flight services, driven by a customer-first orientation and hinged on strict adherence to established safety standards.
“We’re also modernising and increasing our fleet, especially with the brand new Embraer 195-E2 aircraft, to continue to give our customers a matchless experience on board- whether domestic, regional or international. We currently boast of twenty domestic routes, eight regional and five international destinations, including Israel, India and China.”
The airline also announced plans to launch operations in the future to Houston-USA and London, saying; “We’re constantly reviewing our route network in line with the travel needs of the flying public.
Lastly,we must thank the Togolese authorities, our partners here, and the Nigerian Government for making this possible, while we promise to work jointly with all the relevant aviation stakeholders to ensure this new route produces the desired outcomes for all.”
