By Ikechukwu Onyia
As predicted by many, the entry of Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, into the lucrative Lagos-London route has not only triggered a price war and ground operations politics at the London end but also sparked an international media attack aimed at removing the Nigerian airline from the once monopolized route dominated by foreign airlines.
Since Air Peace joined the route on March 30, 2024, with more affordable prices compared to the previous rates, we have witnessed a price war led by foreign airlines in an attempt to push Air Peace out of the market, just as they did with previous Nigerian airlines on the same route.
It is worth noting that Nigerian carriers like Arik, Medview, and Bellview have attempted the London route in the past but were met with frustration and eventually closed their operations.
In what looks like a coordinated plan with multiple phases, starting from the price war to ground operations frustration and now the media attack, all because a Nigerian carrier joined the Lagos-London route.
On Sunday, a UK-based media outfit, the Daily Mail, launched the first media attack on Air Peace CEO, labeling him a fugitive who allegedly used his plane to transport Prince Harry and his wife Meghan during their recent visit to Nigeria.
It is reported in various British media that the Royal family is not happy that Prince Harry and his wife’s trip to Nigeria was received with such royal receptions, even though it was a private visit. British media have been striving to portray their visit negatively using the media to drive this narrative.
However, Nigerians on social media are not giving in to that and continue to defend their country and Prince Harry and Meghan’s visit with patriotism.
Meanwhile, Air Peace started direct flights from Lagos to London on March 30, offering round-trip economy tickets at a price of N1.2 million, which is significantly lower than the previous prices charged by foreign airlines, which could go as high as N3 million.
Before Air Peace joined the Lagos-London route on March 30, the cost of flight tickets in the week prior showed that a one-way economy class ticket from Lagos to London on British Airways used to cost N3 million for Economy and N11 million for Business Class, which has now dropped to N1.7 million for economy and N6.8 million for Business Class respectively.
On Lufthansa, a one-way Economy class ticket from Lagos to London, which used to cost about N3 million, and N9 million for Business class, was later reduced to N2 million for economy class and N7 million for Business Class respectively.
On Virgin Atlantic, the same destination which used to cost about N2 million for Economy, N5 million for Economy Premium, and N12 million for Business Class, now costs N1.5 million for Economy, N3 million for Premium, and N6 million for Business Class.
In the words of Adeyileka, “They have been enjoying a monopoly on the Nigerian route, but now that a Nigerian carrier has joined the market, they want to wage war and drive it out. If they succeed, within 48 hours the airlines will more than double the prices. They will increase the fares by 300 percent.”
Meanwhile, Onyema has maintained his innocence, saying back in 2019: “Be rest assured that I also have my lawyers on this and these mere allegations will be refuted.”
“I never laundered money in my life, neither have I committed bank fraud anywhere in the world,” he further asserted. “Every Kobo [Nigerian currency] I transferred to the US for aircraft purchase went through the Central Bank of Nigeria LC regime and all were used for the same purpose.”