Fidelity Bank Plc has joined the list of Nigerian corporate organisations who have celebrated the country’s leading airline, Air Peace for its milestone in commencing scheduled flight operations into London, United Kingdom.
At an event organised by the bank at Civic Center in Victoria Island, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Dr Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, commended Air Peace’s giant strides and financial discipline which she said it has upheld since inception.
She said: “Air Peace has been very loyal to us. We are grateful to have them as our client and we are celebrating their milestone of launching direct flight service to London and other milestones they will achieve”.
The Chairman, Air Peace, Dr Allen Onyema, noted that it was not rosy for the airline to attain its current status and expressed gratitude to the flying public, the various aviation stakeholders, the media and the government for the continued support since it launched in 2014.
He acknowledged the pivotal role played by a former Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Engineer Ben Adeyileka, in helping the airline secure its Airline Operator Certificate, AOC.
The Air Peace boss thanked Fidelity Bank for the consistent support and stressed that the bank had contributed to the success story of the airline.
He enthused “I call it our journey with Fidelity Bank. I did not envisage this day would come when an indigenous institution would be celebrating another indigenous institution. Fidelity supports real business. They keep removing people from the streets of poverty. Let other banks emulate Fidelity”, he added.
According to him, Air Peace was set up primarily to create employment, not to profiteer affirming that the motivation behind the business was to empower Nigerians economically.
“Air Peace was not borne out of the intent to profiteer but to create jobs. Air Peace was not established because I wanted more money but because of the conviction that running an airline would create massive job opportunities. That was why we went into aviation”, he remarked.
Highlighting how the airline never fails to engage in humanitarian interventions for Nigerians, especially the numerous evacuation flights at critical times, Onyema asserted that Air Peace truly cares about the Nigerian project and supporting the airline means supporting the growth of the Nigerian economy.
The Air Peace boss said the airline needs the support of Nigerians to sustain the newly launched London service.
“For every penny you pay to Air Peace, you pay to sustain the jobs of thousands of Nigerians and support economic growth.
“Air Peace flies you from any of our domestic routes to London. So, you can fly from Yola to London via Lagos. From the local airport, you are taken to the international airport free of charge with a seamless luggage transfer”, Onyema affirmed.
Pledging that the airline will continue to fully adhere to the standard of safety, he lauded the Management and staff of Air Peace for the efforts in realising the London dream.
Onyema urged Nigerians saying “Let’s shun ethnic nationalism and spread love and broad nationalism. Air Peace is not an Igbo airline. It is a Nigerian airline that belongs to two hundred million people.”
