Travel/Tourism
We Didn’t Stop Flights to Dubai Over Lack of Capacity—Air Peace
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs Toyin Olajide, has refuted the claims by the former Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika, that the company stopped its flights to Dubai over its lack of capacity.
The airline operator also punctured the claims by Mr Sirika that Air Peace incurred of loss of about $19 million for keeping two Boeing 777 aircraft idle for several months.
On Sunday, during an interview with Arise Television, the ex-minister, while praising Ethiopian Airlines, stated that Air Peace leased ‘two’ Boeing 777 aircraft on a monthly lease fee of $250,000, parked the aircraft for several months and incurred losses of $19 million while all the aircraft engines and landing gears became due for replacement when the planes were ready to fly.
Mr Sirika stated that Ethiopian Airlines would never do that, thereby throwing the Nigerian airline under the bus.
But responding to this in a statement seen by Business Post, Mrs Olajide called said Mr Sirika lied, stating that, “We have three and not two Boeing 777 aircraft which were never leased or rented, but were purchased outrightly by the airline.
“Air Peace never incurred such a loss, we never paid rentals contrary to his lies. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can attest to the purchase and ownership of the aircraft by Air Peace.”
In her response to Mr Sirika’s statement that the airline stopped flying to Dubai because it lacked capacity, the COO of Air Peace described this as “another stark lie.”
She explained that after commencing flight operations into the UAE in July 2019, the government announced a visa ban on Nigerians in October 2022.
“Neither Emirates nor Air Peace is operating the Nigerian/UAE route since the ban. The persisting non-issuance of visas and the accompanying inconveniences necessitated the suspension of our Dubai operations from November 22, 2022, to date.
“For the former minister to ascribe the suspension to ‘lack of capacity’ is shocking and shows how keen he is to disparage an airline that has defied all the commercial odds and hostile environment placed on its path to continue to serve our nation proudly.
“How could an airline that placed a firm order for 13 brand new E2-195 aircraft, a firm order of 15 Boeing 737 Max 8 & Max 10, with over 30 aircraft already in its existing fleet be accused of lacking in capacity?
“How can an airline that stood up for the entire nation during the COVID-19 outbreak and embarked on rescue operations worldwide, evacuating Nigerians from far-away China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, UK and South Africa during the COVID-19 lockdowns be accused of lacking capacity?” Mrs Olajide quipped.
She urged the general public to disregard the comments made by the former Aviation Minister against Air Peace during the interview.
“We take serious exception to a situation where Air Peace is being misrepresented in the public sphere, causing wrong perceptions about our brand,” she said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In a move aimed at improving passenger clearance, compliance and customs operations, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has introduced the Simplified Customs Advanced Declaration System (SCADS).
This platform was launched at the International Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Monday, May 18, 2026.
This initiative will simplify baggage declaration for inbound international passengers and reduce manual bottlenecks, improve transparency in revenue assessment and enhance operational efficiency at Nigeria’s international airports.
It allows passengers to declare items before arrival, thereby reducing clearance time while improving compliance and operational integrity.
The introduction of this scheme became necessary following operational challenges encountered on the Service’s previous passenger declaration platform earlier this year, and rather than allow the setbacks to slow operations, customs chose to develop a stronger and more efficient alternative.
“When the earlier platform experienced operational challenges, we chose not to see it as a setback. We saw it as an opportunity to build something better, stronger and more efficient.
“For passengers, this system creates the opportunity for advance declaration before arrival. It means faster clearance, easier compliance and smoother movement through our airports,” the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of ICT/Modernisation, Ms Oluyomi Adebakin, said yesterday.
She noted that the system will eliminate subjective revenue assessment by ensuring that duties are automatically generated based on declared items, their quantities, and their actual values.
“When we talk about revenue collection, it is not about collecting more or less. It is about collecting the right revenue. With this system, assessment will now be more objective, accurate and driven by data,” she stated.
Earlier, the Customs Area Controller for FCT Area Command, Comptroller Victoria Alibo, described the selection of the command for the pilot phase as a vote of confidence in its operational capacity.
According to her, the new platform integrates passenger baggage and e-commerce declarations into a single digital framework designed to support global Customs best practices.
“SCADS is designed to simplify declarations, reduce clearance time, eliminate manual bottlenecks and align our operations with international standards,” Ms Alibo said, adding that the pilot phase will run for five days, from Monday, May 18, to Friday, May 22, 2026, during which officers will evaluate the system in a live environment ahead of nationwide deployment.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The price of aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, has been reduced by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals to N1,650 per litre from N1,750 per litre.
The company, in a statement, said this price slash was done to ease cost pressures on airlines and ensure an uninterrupted fuel supply across the country.
This is in addition to a 30-day interest-free credit facility backed by bank guarantees (BG) for marketers and airline operators and a shift from a dollar-denominated pricing structure to a naira-based model.
The private refiner also stated that these interventions come amid growing concerns over the rising operational costs faced by domestic carriers, with aviation fuel accounting for a significant portion of airline expenses.
Industry stakeholders have repeatedly warned that escalating Jet A1 prices were placing severe financial strain on operators and threatening the sustainability of flight operations.
The refinery’s decision is expected to provide relief to airline operators by lowering fuel procurement costs, improving operational stability, and supporting efforts to moderate airfares.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured a final forfeiture order for a Hawker private Jet 125 before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, over its links to fraud, corruption, and money laundering in relation to the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project (MEPP).
The aircraft, with model number 800XP, serial number 258553 and registration number 5N-AMK, was forfeited following an application by the EFCC.
Justice Nwite, ruling on the application, held that no sufficient cause was shown by Valiente Jet Limited, a company owned by Mr Abdulsalam Kachallah, an interested party, why the aircraft should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
“The interested party has not demonstrated with evidence the lawful origin of the funds used to purchase the aircraft,” the judge held, stressing that the disguised manner through which the aircraft was acquired using the name of a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator who denied knowledge of the nature of the transaction further lent credence to the unlawfulness of the entire transaction.
In a statement by the anti-graft agency, it disclosed that the investigation revealed Mr Kachallah entered into unlawful agreements with China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) through shell companies.
The EFCC also alleged that he sold privileged bidding information relating to the project in exchange for financial inducements.
“The investigation further showed that CMEC was subsequently awarded three contracts under the project valued at $52,120,172 (Fifty Two Million One Hundred and Twenty Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy Two Dollars) and ₦20,213,956,953 (Twenty Billion, Two Hundred and Thirteen Million, Nine Hundred and Fifty Six Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty Three Naira),” it said.
The EFCC revealed that part of the contract funds was routed through Afuwa Integrated Services Limited, a Bureau De Change operator, under the false claim that the company was subcontracted by CMEC.
“CMEC transferred the sum of $2,070,000 (Two Million, Seventy Thousand Dollars) into the Stanbic IBTC Bank account of Afuwa Integrated Services Limited on Kachallah’s instruction,” it further revealed.
It disclosed that forged invoices were prepared in the name of Afuwa Integrated Services Limited to falsely portray that legitimate services had been rendered to CMEC.
“The funds were thereafter transferred to a Brazilian account for the purchase of the aircraft from a Brazilian company,” the EFCC revealed.
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