The management of Air Peace has revealed why its aircraft, which was scheduled to pick up its Chairman, Allen Onyema, and his team on Saturday evening, could not land at Ekiti Airport.
Onyema had gone to Ekiti last Saturday to receive the award of an honorary doctorate from the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti but encountered a delay on his way out of the state over the inability of one of his aircraft scheduled to pick him up to land at the Ekiti State Agro Allied International Cargo Airport.
Media reports had it that the aircraft was unable to take off due to bad navigational aid of the new airport, an Aerodrome the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, once said was ready for full commercial operations after adjudging it to be 99.5 per cent ready.
Meanwhile, the airline said its aircraft could not land over bad weather conditions, causing the pilot to reroute the flight back to Lagos.
In a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communications at Air Peace Limited, Ejike Ndiulo noted that the airline is aware of some reports that the Chairman of Air Peace Limited was stranded for over 24 hours at the Ekiti State Agro Allied International Cargo Airport due to the airport’s lack of navigational aids on his recent visit to Ekiti.
Ndiulo noted that the report is false, inaccurate and misleading, describing it as a “deliberate misrepresentation of facts designed to malign Air Peace and its leadership.”
“The claim that his pilot took a risky manoeuvre to exit Ekiti airport to Lagos is an outright fabrication that irresponsibly suggests a breach of aviation safety protocols—something Air Peace would never engage in,” he added.
“This is a routine occurrence in global aviation and not a reflection of any inadequacy on the part of the airport.
“At no point did any Air Peace flight engage in unsafe operations, contrary to the false narrative pushed by Sahara Reporters. Air Peace upholds the highest international aviation safety standards, with safety as our top priority,” Ndiulo explained.
He said at Air Peace, safety is not just a priority but a fundamental precondition for all our activities.
