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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A socio-cultural organisation, under the auspices of the Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC) has charged operators in the aviation industry to avoid unhealthy competitions targeted at sabotaging rival airlines.
The youths claimed that the warning was necessitated by misleading and injurious publications to the effect that about 13 Nigerian airlines have been blacklisted by international aircraft lessors for various contract breaches, including Air Peace
In a statement from NDYC National Coordinator, Jaator Abido, made available to newsmen in Abuja, the group frowned at the falsehood, maintaining that Air Peace, Nigeria’s airline of choice and other airlines are not blacklisted as alleged.
The statement reads, “The aviation sector is crucial to our economy and particularly in the Niger Delta region where a lot of economic activities involving expatriates are domiciled. It was therefore necessary for us to immediately verify the authenticity of the claim, especially as it touched on a very key player in the industry with a huge presence in our region.
“Sadly enough, no such thing has happened as our investigation has revealed that those behind this fabrication are those who are intimidated by the towering business success of Air Peace and other airlines who are breaking into international destinations and gaining momentum by the day.
“We frown at such barbaric tactics employed by other airlines operating in Nigeria, including international carriers and beseech the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other regulators to act fast to forestall future occurrence as this is capable of causing panic amongst air travellers with adverse effects on the economy.”
Reacting further, the group emphasised that since Air Peace went global and took business control over the London route and other promising international destinations, ending the cycle of exploitation of Nigerians, the airline has come under a series of attacks, especially by international carriers.
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“This fresh media attack is not different from the price war launched by international airlines earlier in the year to put Air Peace out of business. The whole talk about contract breaches between lessors and the targeted Nigerian airlines is nothing but a decoy to create panic and reduce ticket sales.
“If not a mischievous plot orchestrated to harm the reputation of burgeoning airlines, how could one explain the fact that lessors to over 13 airlines sat and decided to blacklist them at the same time?
“Even if this was to happen, did all the airlines breach their contract agreements at the same time? Can two contracts even be the same? This and many more questions beg for answers,” the youths maintained in the statement.
It however, urged Nigerians not to fall for the cheap blackmail from desperate competitors and continue to patronise Nigerian airlines, especially Air Peace for both local and international travel as there is no atom of truth in the purported blacklisting of Nigerian airlines.
“Fellow Nigerians, let us not fall to the cheap blackmail and propaganda that’s been peddled by our enemies. They simply want to push airlines like Air Peace out of business so they can resume their exploitation of innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians.
“Air Peace specifically owns most of its aircraft and cannot just be blacklisted by a lessor.
“Let us join outstanding individuals and institutions like the Nigerian Army in honouring and supporting the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema for his service to Nigeria. We must grow Nigeria and patronise Nigeria to build and strengthen our economy,” the statement noted.
