Allen Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace Airlines has recounted the challenges his airline faced due to what he described as both internal and external conspiracies.
Onyema during an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show program on Monday, revealed that Air Peace was denied a Technical Country Operators (TCO) permit by ‘his own country’, hindering its ability to operate flights to European countries.
He expressed frustration over the lengthy seven-year process it took for the airline to secure designation to operate flights to London, highlighting the bureaucratic hurdles faced by the nation’s leading airlines.
“You suffer what I call both internal and external conspiracies. It took us seven years. We got the designation, I think about six and a half years ago to go into London. Since then, it has been a Cat-and-Mouse game.
“We actually procured our three 777s because of this route, not for any other route,… However, we were not allowed to go.
“Whether you like it or not, there is what is called international aero politics which is very dirty. We applied for the TCO. TCO means Technical Country Operators permit, you must get that one before you start going into any European country, UK inclusive. And the TCO organization from Europe wrote our Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority- Do you know Air Peace? Do you know about their designation? And we were denied. My own country denied us, so they threw it back.
“We went back to the NCAA, they said, oh, we didn’t tell them. Who designated us, the Federal Ministry of Aviation, whose duty it was and still is to do that. We said okay, we’re ready. They refused, they said until they allow us to apply. So, we got a designation from the Federal government, and the NCAA, under the same Federal Government, was telling us that we should not make any application towards going into the UK.”
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