Air Peace Limited has commenced direct flight operations into the Mallam Aminu International Airport, Kano, as part of its route expansion programme for 2018.
The airline launched its inaugural flight on Monday with a Boeing 737-300 aircraft, which departed the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, at about 7.15am and arrived Kano airport at about 8.30am.
Speaking at a brief ceremony held at the VIP lounge of the Kano airport to welcome the inaugural flight, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said the entry of the airline into the Lagos-Abuja-Kano route would go a long way in facilitating transportation and also boost trade and commerce between Kano and the southern part of the country.
Sanusi decried the fewer number of airlines that ply the Kano route despite the huge market for air passengers in the state, saying Kano had over the years suffered insufficient air transportation link with the rest of the country.
Sanusi’s speech was delivered by the Jakadan Hausa Kano, Alhaji Ibrahim Sambo, a top official in the Kano Emirate.
He said, “the people of Kano are very happy to see that this airline has commenced flight operation from Lagos to Kano and Kano to Abuja. It will boost commercial activities of Kano people because we are short of airlines operating into Kano. “Because of fewer number of airlines coming to Kano, we have a situation whereby anytime there is cancellation or delay of flight, lots of passengers get stranded. In fact, many people in Kano normally go by road to Abuja to take flights to Lagos,” he lamented.
Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, in his speech, at the occasion said the airline had come to end passengers’ woes over flight delays and cancellations in Kano. He said Air Peace’s coming to Kano would deepen healthy competition among airlines operating to Kano State.
