Air Peace Presence On London Route, More Than A Commercial Venture, Says Najomo
Director General of Civil Aviation, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo says Nigeria’s carriers “as exemplified by Air Peace, have stepped forward with courage. They have taken risks. They have shown that Nigerian excellence is not a myth, but a reality. Their presence on the London route is more than a commercial venture. It is a declaration that Nigeria is ready to take its rightful place in the skies.”
Speaking at the inaugural Lecture organized by SAPTCO Communications Limited under the theme, “International Aeropolitics: The Survival Of Nigerian Carriers On The London Route,” Najomo said the theme is “not simply an academic text. It is a narrative of identity, ambition and the future of Nigeria’s place in global aviation.”
He said “international aeropolitics has never been neutral. It is shaped by power, by strategy, and by national pride. The London route is a global battleground where only the strong, the prepared, and the well-supported can thrive. For many years, Nigeria has watched from the sidelines as foreign carriers dominated a market built on the strength of Nigerian passengers. But today, our story is changing.”
He further stated that despite challenges like imbalanced agreements, high operating costs, global competition, and structural limitations, Nigeria’s resolve is stronger. He promised that “as regulators, we at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), will continually ensure Nigeria’s compliance rating in aviation safety and security by ICAO is impressive in order to give our operators a fair chance in the scrutiny by the international community. Our regulations must be fair, just, and globally in line with the highest standards. The NCAA stands firm in its commitment to protect Nigerian interests, to advocate for fairness, and to create an environment where our airlines do not merely survive, but thrive.”
He said to ensure success of Nigerian carriers, unity of purposed is needed by government, regulators, airport authorities, diplomats, and all industry stakeholders, maintaining that “International aeropolitics will continue to shape global aviation, but Nigeria must participate not as a passive observer, but as an assertive, strategic, and well-coordinated nation.”
In his remarks, Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) said the sustainability of Nigeria’s “domestic airlines has received priority attention since the inception of this administration. We have engaged countries around the world in order to maximize our bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) with them in favour of our indigenous airlines. Our passion to support our domestic airlines also took us to some aircraft manufacturers and lessors like Boeing and others to advance the new narrative of collaboration for our people. The whole purpose we toured the world was to reconnect our domestic airlines to international partners for new opportunities to increase their capacity. We have also continued to make policies and create enabling environment for our airlines to thrive.”
He reassured the audience that “we are resolved to continue to play the international aeropolitics to ensure that our indigenous airlines sustain the gains already made even as they continue to expand their routes while delivering excellent services.”
In his speech, Mr. Nowel Ngala, the Chief Commercial Officer of Air Peace Limited, who represented the chairman, said “the UK-Nigeria route is the first and highest traffic corridor amongst all other markets in Nigeria. It has an annual traffic of over 450,000 travelers, making it the biggest market share in all the markets serving Nigeria. International foreign carriers, such as British Airways, have been operating on this route for over 90 years, since their creation.
Other carriers, such as Virgin Atlantic, came in much later with direct flights as well from Nigeria directly into the UK. Today, we have three carriers offering direct services between Lagos and Nigeria, and Gatwick and Heathrow airports, while other international carriers continue to serve the route via their respective hubs, transporting 29% of the business and traffic out of Nigeria via their hubs into London. That is, Nigerians still traveling, for example, through Doha, through Istanbul, through Paris, through Addis Ababa, to attain London and UK.
It is now exactly one year, eight months, since Air Peace successfully started direct flights from Lagos to Gatwick in March 2024. And we have steadily seen growth that has encouraged us recently to launch the additional flights from Abuja to Heathrow this year, last October 2025. Today, Air Peace has daily services from Lagos to Gatwick, three flights from Abuja to Heathrow on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, three flights from Abuja to Gatwick as well.”
“Our earnest prayer at this point now stands at the support and establishment of a full hub for transit passengers to have seamless transit at Lagos and Abuja airports without passengers having to arrive, collect their luggage, and recheck to continue their journeys. This will enable Air Peace and other Nigerian carriers to further develop its safe freedom strategy to pull more traffic from the regions surrounding into Nigeria and then to London, instead of allowing this traffic to go to other foreign carriers serving Nigeria. Once again, we thank you for this opportunity and assure you that Air Peace will always be and have served and to provide all the required support to grow the Nigerian aviation industry,” said Ngala.
