By Damilare Adeleye

Air Peace, foremost Nigeria’s flag carrier, has commenced its Lagos-London flight services on Saturday.

The inaugural flight took off from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (New Terminal) in Lagos on Saturday, March 30th, 2024, carrying 260 passengers.

The airline announced the development on its X page on Saturday, expressing delight for the milestone.

“London service has commenced and we’re delighted to have achieved yet another feat in our drive to continually provide peaceful connectivity across cities,” Air Peace posted.

“A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of this launch.”

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and aerospace development; and Doris Uzoka-Anita, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, were present as the airline marked its inaugural flight to London.

This marks a significant milestone for Nigerian aviation, re-establishing a direct connection to London after a gap of several years. Air Peace will operate daily flights using a combination of Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, known for their spacious cabins and comfortable amenities. This increased capacity is expected to cater to the high demand for travel between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

It was recalled that in November 2023, Air Peace had secured a foreign carrier operator permit (FCOP) to fly into the United Kingdom (UK.)

However, the airline could not kick off operations on the route due to challenges with slot allocation at the destination airport.

Prior to this, Keyamo had engaged the UK government to actualise direct flights from Lagos to London.

The minister had also held a meeting with the management of NORSE Atlantic Airways, led by Ben Boiling, its chief executive officer (CEO), in London in late January.

The meeting was to facilitate a partnership between Air Peace and NORSE Atlantic for the operations of the Lagos-London flights.