Air Peace opens up on alleged abandonment of passengers at London’s Gatwick Airport

Nigeria’s biggest carrier, Air Peace, has denied reports that it abandoned its passengers at Gatwick Airport, London and shut the counters before closing time because the aircraft was overbooked on its first flight from London to Lagos on April 8, 2024.

The airline said in a statement that a video on social media which claims it abandoned passengers is a plot to tarnish its image, describing the allegations as untrue.

Air Peace said passengers arrived late

According to reports, the airline said the disgruntled passenger arrived late after the check-in phase had already concluded, and the counter was closed as departure was scheduled for 11:10 a.m., not noon, as alleged.

Air Peace said: “Our attention has been drawn to a video circulating on social media showing Air Peace not only abandoning passengers at Gatwick Airport but also closing its counter before closing time because the aircraft was overbooked on our London-Lagos flight on Monday, April 8, 2024. This video recording was a deliberate and malicious attempt to tarnish Air Peace's image.

"In the video, it was claimed that we closed our counter before time, overbooked our flight, and completed our aircraft. Hence, we quickly closed the door and departed for Lagos. The third claim was that the take-off time was supposed to be noon. We want to state that the passenger the narrator escorted to the airport came very late after the check-in phase had already concluded and the counter had closed."

Air Peace said the Gatwick Airport operates by slot timings allotted to each airline operating at the airport, stating that the check-in operations of airlines are slot-based, and the airlines take turns based on their approved times.

Air Peace alleges plot to force it out of business Legit.ng earlier reported that Allen Onyema, the chairman of Air Peace, a Nigerian domestic carrier, has alleged that foreign airlines that run the Nigeria-UK route plan to force the airline out of business by driving down ticket prices.

According to Onyema, a Channels Television's Politics Today program guest, foreign airlines have an unspoken alliance to utilise reduced pricing to drive Air Peace off the Nigeria-London route.

The Air Peace boss said foreign airlines operating the route are fighting back.