Air Peace orders 5 Embraer E175 aircraft

Air Peace will continue its quest to mordenize its fleet by acquiring new aircraft and this time, the airline has chosen the 88-seat Embraer E175 as the next aircraft to enter the airlines fleet with an order for 5 aircraft with a possibility of adding five more if the need arises. Deliveries are expected to start in 2024. The E175s will join the airlines E195-E2 jets. To date, Air Peace operates 5 E195-E2 aircraft from an order of 13. The E175s will be used to replace the 50-seater ERJ145s on routes experiencing high demand.

The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, said: “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. The acquisition enables us to continue delivering on our ‘no-city-left-behind’ initiative – connectivity is what our passengers, and Africa, demand. The deal also paves the way to establish local maintenance capabilities in Nigeria, with direct support from Embraer.”

Establishing a maintenance centre in Nigeria would be a huge achievement as it will result in reduced maintenance costs and shorter service times. The maintenance facility would allow Air Peace to not only service their own aircraft in-house, but they will be able to service other airline aircraft as well. This would eliminate the need to send aircraft to foreign countries, especially to European countries.