Air Peace suspends flights to South Africa

Nigerian carrier Air Peace has suspended scheduled flights to Johannesburg, South Africa, effective from August 22, over the high cost of aviation fuel (Jet A1), forex scarcity, and a delay in visa issuance for South African passengers.

In a letter to its partners, Air Peace said that the suspension was “due to the turbulent times the aviation industry is experiencing” and will remain in effect until October 8.

The airline said it hopes to resume the service depending on whether the situations improve or not but that passengers with future flight itineraries who wish to join non-affected operational flights should be accommodated at no additional cost.

READ: South Africa grants Air Peace request to begin commercial flights to Jo’burg

“We hereby inform the flying public that from August 22, 2022, our Johannesburg flight operations will be suspended till October 8, 2022.

“This development is regretted but has become inevitable due to the delayed issuance of South African visas to travellers, worsening forex crunch and the increasing cost of aviation fuel as well as its scarcity.

“However, having informed the South African High Commission in Lagos of the effects of the difficulty in getting visas by Nigerians, which consequence is the abysmally low passenger loads on our flight to and from Johannesburg, we believe that the situation would have improved within the next 60 days. Hence, our willingness to resume on October 8, 2022,” the airline said.