Nigerian flag carrier, Air Peace, has evacuated 277 Nigerians from Egypt amidst the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
The airline deployed one of its wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft with registration number 5N-BVE, to operate the evacuation flight, which arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around 23:00hrs on Wednesday, May 4, 2023.
The aircraft departed the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos at 15:10hrs on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in his show of altruism and patriotism, had offered to airlift Nigerians from the war-hit country of Sudan for free, requesting the Federal Government to get them to a neighbouring country, as the Sudanese airspace is temporarily closed for civil aviation.
Onyema said the stranded Nigerians needed urgent assistance, adding that: “I am compelled to help because Nigeria cannot afford to lose her citizens in that country. It would be my commitment to making sure that the stranded Nigerians in the war-torn country are safe.
“Everything must not be left for the government alone, especially as the situation calls for urgency and immediate action,” he said.
With the arrival of this flight, Onyema has made good on his promise and thanked the Federal Government for its role in making the evacuation flight possible.
This is not the first time Onyema has magnanimously deployed his aircraft for humanitarian purposes. It will be recalled that in 2019, he airlifted 503 stranded Nigerians amidst the xenophobic onslaught in South Africa for free.
During the COVID-19 period in 2020, some of his aircraft were also used for the repatriation of Nigerians from several countries, not forgetting the evacuation flights operated by his airline during the Ukraine-Russia crisis in 2022.
