By Abo Oyeade
Air Peace, Nigeria’s leading airline, has announced it will return to full operations across all routes following days of widespread flight cancellations and delays, which it attributes to the “fraudulent” and “unjustified” withdrawal of leased aircraft by a foreign partner, SmartLynx Airlines.
Addressing a press conference in Ikeja on Friday, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Nowel Ngala, apologized to passengers and detailed the circumstances that led to the operational crisis.
According to the airline, the disruptions were triggered when SmartLynx abruptly pulled four wet-leased aircraft from its operations without prior notice, violating their lease agreement. Ngala revealed that SmartLynx had collected over $5 million from Air Peace, including $1 million in security deposits, despite knowing the aircraft would be withdrawn by their actual owners due to SmartLynx’s own default on payments.
“This situation has caused over $15 million in damages to Air Peace,” the airline stated, describing SmartLynx’s action as a “serious breach of contract, fraudulent, and a premeditated scheme.”
The airline also disclosed a previous similar experience with SYPHAX Airlines of Tunisia, which it said vanished with over $2 million of its funds without returning a leased aircraft.
Despite these challenges, Air Peace offered a positive outlook, announcing that two of its 13 aircraft undergoing scheduled maintenance abroad have returned to service. The airline expects more to arrive in the coming days, enabling a full restoration of its flight schedule by next week.
The management reassured the public of its commitment to safe and reliable service and pledged to take all necessary steps to prevent a recurrence, while also pursuing accountability from the defaulting partners.
