Air Peace, the privately owned Nigerian flag carrier, has inaugurated its international service to Guangzhou, China.
The flight took off from Lagos Airport on July 13, 2022, operated by a Boeing 777, Air Peace announced on Twitter. The airline stated that it was playing its part in deepening the bilateral ties between China and Nigeria.
The airline will operate one weekly service to Guangzhou from Lagos Airport.
Air Peace also intends to expand its international services to more destinations, with plans to commence flights to Mumbai, India, and Tel Aviv, Israel according to the airline spokesperson, Stanley Olisa.
Olisa said that the network expansion was motivated by Air Peace’s commitment to seamlessly connect Nigerians to other parts of the world and deepen international socio-economic ties, according to a report by The Guardian.
Air Peace’s service network is comprised of 20 domestic routes, seven regional routes and two international destinations, including Dubai and Johannesburg, launched in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The launch of the airline’s services to Guangzhou, makes it the third international destination outside Africa served by the airline for commercial operations.
However, according to Air Peace Chief Operating Officer, Toyin Olajide, this is not the first time the airline has flown into “Chinese airspace.”
“We’ve successfully operated several evacuations/special flights to the country at different times in the past, especially in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown,” said Olajide in a Tribune report. “So, we’re going into China, not as newcomers, but as an airline that is technically and operationally acclimatized with the Chinese terrain.”
Olajide also hinted at the airline’s plans to connect Beijing, Shanghai, from Nigeria through an interline agreement Asian airline, the Tribune report continues.