Air Peace Explains Why They Couldn’t Delay Flight For Emir Of Kano

Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest airline, claims it did not disrespect Kano’s Emir, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero.

The airline stated this in response to a letter of protest filed by Prince Isa Bayero, the Emir’s cousin.

The Emir’s cousin had requested the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to take action against the airline for “disrespect” to the Emir and Kano people.

Prince Bayero claimed to have called Air Peace Chairman Mr. Allen Onyema to ask him to delay the airline’s morning trip to Kano because their flight from Banjul, Gambia, had been delayed, preventing them from getting to the airport on time.

Mrs. Toyin Olajide, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace Ltd, expressed dismay over what she termed a “deliberate falsehood” against the airline in a statement, maintaining that the airline respects the Emir in the deepest regard.

Contrary to the accusation that the Emir was disrespected, the Airline, according to her, even protected the Emir’s reputation.

Mrs. Olajide said, “Rather than disrespect the revered Emir of Kano, Air Peace did everything to protect the name and image of the Emir from ridicule by not succumbing to what Isa Bayero wanted us to do.

“If we had agreed to stop and delay an aircraft, already set to take-off, for another one hour only for the doors to be opened and the Emir to walk in, there would have been a very serious uproar in the media nationwide against both the airline and the Emir. This we pleaded with Isa Bayero to understand but he refused to accept.

“How could Isa Bayero want the Management of Air Peace to stop and delay a fully boarded plane with doors already shut and aircraft already moving while our respected Emir and eight others in his entourage, including Isa Bayero, were still at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos after arriving from Banjul?”

Mr. Isa Bayero called at about 5.52 a.m., while the Chairman/CEO, Allen Onyema, was still asleep, according to the COO’s phone record.

She said that he contacted him again at 5.59 a.m., which clearly woke him up, according to the phone log.

She said, “On seeing that it was Isa Bayero calling, he took the call. Isa told our Chairman that he and the Emir of Kano had just landed at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos from Banjul, Gambia, and would be proceeding to Kano the same morning.

“He told the Chairman to delay our first flight of the day, the 6:15 am Lagos-Kano flight for him and the Emir with another eight persons. It was not true that our Chairman refused flatly. He rather told Mr. Isa Bayero to give him a few minutes to call the airport to find out the status of the flight. I was the one he called. To show his desire to help, he called me immediately and intimated me with the request.

“I am the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Air Peace. I quickly called the local airport from where we carry on our day-to-day domestic flight operations and was told that the aircraft had since finished boarding and was almost taxiing out.”