Air Peace Airline has set aside three aircraft as buffers to cushion the effect of unexpected delays and cancellations.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Weekend, the chairman of the airline, Dr. Allen Onyema, said the aircraft are to help as a buffer, especially in its internal delays and sometimes when caused by external factors.
Onyema disclosed that it recorded 85 per cent On-Time Performance (OTP) in May as a result of the buffers.
He revealed plans to rebrand the airline’s customer service department in a bid to improve service delivery.
“We have restrategised since May 10, we have provided buffers for our flights and by May 12, we posted over 85 per cent OTP, we have three aircraft that are not flying everyday, we have discovered that there are internal delays, planes can develop fault, there could be unforeseen circumstances internally, with this arrangement, delays are now minimal.
He explained that 95 per cent of flight delays and cancellations by Air Peace are a result of external factors and not the fault of the airline.
He explained that most of its flights are being delayed as a result of weather, infrastructure problems, bird strikes, inadequate landing equipment and sunset airports, amongst others.
“Last week, we recorded two bird strikes. In the past five years, Air Peace has recorded 115 bird strikes and over 30 bird strikes this year alone. But passengers do not understand that the flight delays and cancellations are not the fault of the airline,” he said.
“When bird strikes occur, it automatically takes out our equipment from operations. Remember, it was a bird strike that took out an aeroplane in America; the pilot had to dive into the river. Bird strikes can explode your engine, depending on how it happens. We should be thankful to God Almighty bird strike hasn’t caused an accident in Nigeria. We are even having animals attacking our aircraft,” Allen further explained.
He, however, insisted that despite the delays and cancellations, flights operated by Air Peace daily put together are more than flights operated by all domestic airlines in Nigeria.
“Because of our capacity and the number of places we operate flights to, you see many people on social media shouting and blaming Air Peace. Sometimes we have thunderstorms and rain, and we are not able to operate flights. This will definitely affect other flights on our schedule.
“Air Peace has zero tolerance for unsafe practices. What we sell to Nigerians is our safety protocols, and we are very proud of this. We’ve not been validated alone by Nigerians. Air Peace has also been validated to be the pride of this nation by one of the most stringent Civil Aviation Authorities all over the world.
“Today, Air Peace is still operating to London. The British and European authorities came here and audited our airline, and we passed with excellent colours. That is why they approved us to come. And over the last one and a half years, Air Peace has proved its ability on international routes.
“To the admiration of those who gave us that validation, we never cancelled any flight to the UK for one day. The only times we delayed were the times the airport itself called on us, telling us to delay our departures from here because they were doing runway repairs,” the Air Peace chairman said.
He also said Indian flight operations would resume soon, but lamented that the country refused to grant it landing rights into some destinations in India.
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