Air Peace reacts to 72-hour ultimatum to apologise to Kano emir over missed flight

Allen Onyema Air Peace

The management of Air Peace airline has reacted to an ultimatum issued it by an official of the Kano Emirate Council for an apology to the emir of Kano Aminu Bayero following the controversy about the emir’s missed flight from Lagos to Kano.

The official Isa Bayero had given Air Peace 72 hours to apologise for allegedly disrespecting the emir by causing a delay to his flight from Banjul, Gambia to Lagos, which he said caused the emir to miss his flight from Lagos to Kano.

This came after Bayero, who is also the monarch’s cousin, wrote the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) seeking punitive measures against the airline.

The airline, however, said in a statement posted to its website on Sunday, apparently in response to the ultimatum, that its flight from Banjul to Lagos last week was not a connecting flight that would have required it to arrange for taking its passengers to their final destinations.

“Based on misconceptions (with some customers) in some media that our Banjul-Lagos flight of February 24, 2022, which had the Emir of Kano onboard was a connecting flight, we wish to clarify it was never a connecting flight.

“That regional flight was a totally different flight that terminated in Lagos and had no connection with any destination, hence, the airline would never have known the next destination of its passengers.

“However, we regret the inconvenience incurred by our esteemed passengers who could not travel to the next destination as they had wanted,” the airline said.

The statement did not address the ultimatum for an apology to the emir.