Central and West Africa’s largest carrier, Air Peace, is set to increase its fleet and marketshare as it places a firm order for five Embraer E175 air birds, with the aircraft coming in at a price tag of $288 million.
Chief Executive Officer, Mr Allen Onyema, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, noting that the acquisitions fit into a strategic decision to expand and modernize the airline’s fleet.
Delivery of the aircraft will begin in 2024.
Onyema said the acquisition it is also in line with airline’s determination to become the operator of the largest and youngest fleet of aircraft in Africa.
He said, “This reinforces Air Peace’s commitment to enhancing its domestic and regional network connectivity and paves the way for further regional expansion, Deliveries of the 88 seat aircraft start in 2024.
“Already an operator of Embraer’s newest and largest jet, the E195-E2, these smaller aircraft will complement the airlines’ existing fleet, allowing Air Peace to dynamically match capacity to demand protecting yields and route viability.
“This is another important step in helping to realize our ambition to connect the whole of Nigeria with the entire African continent, while also feeding passengers into long-haul flights from our Lagos hub,” he said.
According to him, the acquisition will enable the airline to continue delivering on its ‘no-city-left-behind’ initiative, which he said is the connectivity that the passengers and Africa demand.
He added that the deal would also pave the way to establish local maintenance capabilities in Nigeria, with direct support from Embraer.
“Air Peace’s strategic and innovative approach continues to make them a powerhouse of aviation success in West Africa. Already an E2 operator, it now makes sense to up gauge their ERJ145 fleet, offering passengers more seats and comfort with the E175. The commonality of the cockpits between the E1 and E2 fleet also simplifies aircrew costs and management, “ it said.
Onyema quoted Mr Stephan Hannemann, Embraer VP Sales and Marketing, Head of Africa and Middle East Region, Commercial Aviation, as saying that the Embraer, in partnership with Air Peace, is committed to supporting establishment of local maintenance capabilities.
He said the move was to express acknowledging Air Peace’s significant investment in the acquisition of the Embraer fleet of aircrafts, which had increased to 18 brand new firm aircraft to date.
