On Thursday, Air Peace began scheduled operations from Abuja to Tel Aviv. The inaugural flight ceremony took place at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport before an Air Peace 777-300 departed for Tel Aviv.
Interestingly, though the flight was only blocked at 6:20, the inaugural flight took a fairly circuitous route and had an actual flight time of 8:35. I have no clue why this route was taken but if anyone has theories please let me know in the comments.
Air Peace’s new flight
Flights from Abuja to Tel Aviv are operated by Air Peace’s 777, are blocked at 6:20, and will run twice weekly on the following schedule:
Thursday: Р47578 Abuja to Tel Aviv departing 9:50 PM and arriving 6:10 AM (+1 day)
Sunday: Р47578 Abuja to Tel Aviv departing 9:10 PM and arriving 5:30 AM (+1 day)
In the opposite direction, flights from Tel Aviv to Abuja are blocked at 6:00 and will operate twice weekly on the following schedule:
Monday: P47579 Tel Aviv to Abuja departing 9:50 AM and arriving 1:50 PM
Friday: P47579 Tel Aviv to Abuja departing 9:30 AM and arriving 1:30 PM
Booking tickets
Business class tickets over the next few months are currently priced at $1700 to Tel Aviv and $1600 back, while economy tickets are priced at about $850 and $700, respectively.
As a slight aside, does anyone know whether Air Peace has a first class cabin? The fact that there’s a third first class price box on the website suggests as much, as well as the fact that the Air Peace Wikipedia page states their 777s have first class seats.
What’s Air Peace?
Air Peace is Nigeria’s largest airline and its flag carrier. Though it was founded in 2013, it has expanded rapidly and is now the largest carrier in West Africa, a fast-growing region home to a staggering 430 million people. The airline has a fleet size of 33 planes, including two 777-300s and one 777-200ER.
The company has also been in hot water as of late, with its founder and CEO, Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, having been indicted by the US Justice Department on charges of bank fraud and money laundering in 2019. Specifically, Onyema is accused of falsifying documents in order to purchase Air Peace aircraft and spending company money on luxury cars and high-end shopping.
Though the trial is pending, these allegations obviously posed a potential threat to the airline’s reputation and financial health.
Motivation
Nigeria is around half Muslim and half Christian, so this new route makes sense given the large number of religious Nigerians who embark on pilgrimage trips to Israel and previously had to take 20-hour journeys with layovers typically through Istanbul or Addis Ababa.
This new route also aligns with Air Peace’s lofty ambitions, having expanded rapidly since over the past several years and now serving 13 international and 19 domestic destinations.
Conclusion
New international routes are always exciting, especially when operated by an upstart airline connecting two previously unconnected markets. I’ve been interested in flying Air Peace for a while and, since I’m in Israel a fair bit, this may be a great opportunity to give a try.
