Onyema Accuses FAAN Of Attempting To Redirect Air Peace Aircraft To Outdated Terminal

LAGOS, NIGERIA – The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, revealed a concerning incident involving staff from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) upon the airline’s return from its inaugural flight to London.

Onyema recounted how FAAN officials attempted to direct Air Peace’s aircraft to an outdated section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, far from the new terminal.

Onyema expressed the potential difficulties passengers would have faced had this action been carried out, as it would have required them to endure lengthy journeys to reach the terminal building.

During an appearance on The Morning Show, a programme on Arise TV, Onyema highlighted the availability of space at the new terminal (C-23) which was not being utilized. Despite this, officials chose to reserve it for a foreign carrier, sidelining Air Peace, a Nigerian carrier.

He recounted the situation upon Air Peace’s landing, where the aircraft was directed to a remote area of the airport. Onyema emphasized the inconvenience this would have caused passengers and criticized the unfair treatment of Nigerian airlines compared to foreign carriers.

He further pointed out the internal challenges within Nigeria’s aviation system, including what he described as internal conspiracies aiming for the failure of Nigerian airlines. However, Onyema affirmed his determination to overcome such obstacles, highlighting the proactive measures taken to ensure Air Peace received fair treatment.

In response to the situation, Onyema instructed his operations control center to advise the pilot to block the taxiway, prompting action from FAAN officials only after the arrival of another international carrier. He underscored the importance of fairness and equal treatment within the aviation industry, regardless of the carrier’s nationality.

His words: “When our aircraft landed, thank God I was there because this thing had happened before. Let me excuse the leadership of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku; and the Director of Air Operations, Captain Abdullahi Mahmood, both doing fantastically well.

“The wickedness in the system is stinking. The only carrier doing international operations in Nigeria landed and it was kept somewhere in the bush, a disused side of the airport. They expect us to use rickety buses to take international passengers to the new terminal which the international airlines rejected when it was opened.

“For those on that plane which landed yesterday, it would have taken about six hours for people to exit the airport. They put us near Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, (NAHCO), which is very far. And nobody is using that end. No aircraft, not even foreign or local.

“Meanwhile, C-23 at the new terminal was opened. When my captain called, he said it was reserved for a foreign airline at the expense of a Nigerian airline. Our aircraft, coming from London, was to be packed in one bush about two kilometres to our terminal.

“Can you imagine the time it would take us to take people from there to the terminal building? It would have taken about nine hours and Nigerians would have hated Air Peace because they wouldn’t know.

“There are internal conspiracies within Nigeria. Some Nigerians are praying that we fail, but the good thing is that nobody is God.

“Do you know what I did? I called my operations control centre, who could reach the pilot. I told him to tell the pilot to block the taxiway. It was when British Airways landed that they started making moves to tell us to go to where we rightly belonged.”