The management of Air Peace has rubbished the narrative that it disrespected the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero by not delaying its February 24, 2020 Lagos – Kano flight for the Kano monarch.
The airline in a statement released on Sunday night said its Banjul-Lagos flight, which had the Emir of Kano on board, was not a connecting one.
The airline, however, said it regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers on board the flight who could not meet up travel time to other destinations.
The flight had caused issues between the airline operator and Emir of Kano, who missed another flight from Lagos-Kano by the same operator.
Isa Bayero, the emir’s cousin, petitioned the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), asking the regulatory body to punish the airline for allegedly disrespecting the Emir and the people of Kano.
Bayero, popularly known as Isa Pilot, had claimed that the airline delayed its Banjul to Lagos flight by over one hour, yet refused to allow them to board their connecting flight to Kano because they arrived in Lagos 30 minutes before departure time.
But Air Peace denied the allegation, saying the decision was an effort to protect the emir’s image.
Bayero then gave the airline a three-day ultimatum to apologize to the emir.
In the statement, the airline explained the Banjul- Lagos flight that the Emir boarded was not a connecting flight. This, technically implies that the flight had no connection to the Lagos-Kano scheduled flight which the Emir was unable to board.
“Based on misconceptions in some media that our Banjul-Lagos flight of February 24, 2022, which had the Emir of Kano on board was a connecting flight, we wish to clarify that it was never a connecting flight,” the statement reads.
“That regional flight was a totally different flight that terminated in Lagos and had no connection with any other destination hence the airline would never have known the next destinations of its passengers.
“However, we regret the inconvenience incurred by our esteemed passengers who could not travel to the next destinations as they had wanted.
“It is important we set the records straight.”
