Air Peace airlines has announced that upon the commencement of its London route, special student fares will be available, making it affordable for students traveling for educational purposes.
This announcement was made by Allen Onyema, chairman of Air Peace, during the airline’s travel agents forum for the London launch in Lagos on Thursday.
Onyema who called on travel agents to manage the special student fares so that it is not abused by passengers, said this fares will make it easy and affordable for students to travel during holidays and school resumption period.
He said: “Several parents have been disconnected from their children. Many students have not been home for over two years because their parents cannot afford return fares to London. Parents will no longer suffer to raise money for fares for their children because the student fares will be affordable for all parents.
“My children all schooled abroad and we insist that they return to Nigeria during their school breaks no matter how short. This is to enable us remain connected to our children and ensure they stick to our values and culture. I know this is also the desire of several other parents but this desire has been cut short because of high fares.
“This narrative will changed as soon as Air Peace resumes flights to London,” the chairman assured.
Onyema said the Air Peace London route was borne out of his love for Nigeria and to put an end to high fares from Nigeria to London and back.
“I am not interested in politics. This is not about going to London. It is about giving Nigerians the best option and yielding to the yearnings of Nigerians. I set up Air Peace to create jobs for Nigerians,” he said.
He also promised to make commissions for travel agents unified.
However, Onyema who did not reveal how much fares Air Peace will charge on London route, but assured that the fares will be cheaper than what legacy airlines are charging.
Checks show that currently, the cheapest economy class return ticket from Nigeria to London cost about N1.6million naira.
Air fares in the last two years has risen by over 400 percent as a result of accumulating trapped funds of foreign airlines in Nigeria caused by the foreign exchange rate.
The CBN has directed banks to remove the cap on the investors and exporters’ (I&E) window of the fore market to allow for the free float of naira exchange rate.
Last year, Nigeria officially floated its naira currency after years of sticking with a hard peg that spooked investors and drained dollars from the economy.
