AIR PEACE has begun direct scheduled commercial flights into Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

According to the airline’s spokesman, Stanley Olisa, the inaugural flight was operated with one of the airline’s B777s from Kano at 23:22hrs with 231 passengers.

The statement also mentioned that the Emir of Kano, HRH Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, commended the airline for “always blazing the trail” in Nigeria’s aviation business.

Recall that Air Peace previously operated charter flights to Saudi Arabia, transporting Muslim pilgrims. However, the inaugural flight began its scheduled operations into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

During its inaugural flight operations, Dr Allen Onyema, Chairman of Air Peace, lauded its landing into Jeddah as another milestone in Nigerian aviation history.

“This is huge, not just for Air Peace but for Nigeria. We are undoubtedly exemplifying our ambition of connecting Nigeria to the world with world-class flight services. Air Peace is on a mission to easing the air travel burden for Nigerians and plugging the connectivity gaps that have hitherto existed.

“We are happy to be serving as a means of solidifying socio-economic ties between Nigeria and other countries of the world”.

Onyema stated that Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have coexisted peacefully, with religious tourism being a key driver of this relationship, and that with the launch of scheduled nonstop flights to Jeddah, the airline hopes to further deepen bilateral ties, boost both economies, and advance mutual development.

“The Saudi Arabian airspace is not new to us, We have operated numerous Hajj flights to the country. Thus, we are very familiar with the terrain. Our Hajj operations this year were massive. Now, we are flying to Saudi Arabia not as a charter flight but as a regular scheduled operation”.

In his remarks, the Emir congratulated Air Peace on the commencement of its Jeddah service and lauded the airline for always setting the road in Nigeria’s aviation business. He also praised Onyema for the impact he is making in Nigeria through Air Peace.