West and Central Africa’s biggest airline, Air
Peace, on Wednesday set a continental record with an order for 30 brand new
Embraer 195-E2 aircraft.
The deal, which was unveiled during Embraer
Business Meeting with the Aviation World in Port Louis, Mauritius, makes Air
Peace the first to order the brand of jets in Africa.
With the signing of the deal, Air Peace has also
become the official launch customer of the brand of the aircraft in Africa.
The order comprises purchase rights for a further
20 E195-E2 jets.
The aircraft is a 124-seater jet in dual class and
146-seater jet in single class configurations respectively.
With all purchase rights exercised, the contract
has a value of $2.12 billion based on current list prices.
The carrier also set a regional record in September
2018 when it ordered 10 brand new aircraft from Boeing, increasing its fleet
size then to about 37 aircraft. With the new order, Air Peace fleet size has
increased to 67 aircraft.
Shortly before the firm ordered the 10 brand new
aircraft from Boeing, Air Peace set a domestic record as the first Nigerian
airline to acquire and register the Boeing 777 aircraft in the country.
Three of the four wide-body aircraft it acquired
for its long-haul operations to Dubai, Sharjah, Johannesburg, London, Houston,
Guangzhou and Mumbai have so far been delivered.
Speaking on the latest order in Port Louis, Air
Peace Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema, said: “Embraer’s new
E195-E2 presents us with a marvel of economic performance. It’s also great that
we will be the first E2 operator on the African continent. We already have the
ERJ145s in our fleet, so we understand the high standards of Embraer products.”
The E195-E2 aircraft, he said, would strengthen Air
Peace’s drive to deploy the right kinds of aircraft to underserved and unserved
domestic and regional routes under its no-city-left-behind project.
Onyema thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for
creating an enabling environment for the growth of aviation in Nigeria through
waving customs duties on commercial aircraft, engines and spares as well as
granting value-added tax (VAT) waiver.
“Without these noble gestures from my President (Buhari),”
he added: “Air Peace would not have been able to achieve this growth. Thank you
very much, Mr. President."
On his part, Vice President of Sales Africa, Embraer
Commercial Aviation, Mr. Raul Villaron, said: “Air Peace embodies the kind of
pioneering spirit Embraer loves. The airline was established to bring highly
skilled work opportunities to the people of Nigeria; boosting connectivity and
the economy in the region. Air Peace has delivered on both aims, while at the
same time, developing a fast-growing successful airline. It’s great to have
them on board.”
No comments:
Post a Comment