Preparations for Domestic Operations Continue.

Several bodies are putting plans and test operations in place in response to the federal government's initiative. Airlines, Handling companies and numerous agencies are all coming together with exercises to meet up with the aviation minister's requirements.

As part of preparations, Air Peace deployed all its aircraft to the skies, flying to Abuja, Port Harcourt and back to Lagos without passengers.

These flights were aimed at ensuring that the aircraft are in tip-top condition, having been grounded for close to three months though they have been under very strict storage maintenance.

The spokesperson of the airline, Stanley Olisa, who disclosed this to journalists, said the shakedown flights were part of the measures the airline has developed to guarantee the safety of both passengers and crew when operations resume.

He noted that the aircraft have been in storage mode for a couple of months and extensive maintenance checks have been carried out to keep them up to the required standards.

He said: “Within this period of flight ban, we have ramped up technical maintenance of all our aircraft, scaled up cabin refreshers and carried out thorough disinfection to ensure they remain fit for the skies when the authorities flag off operations.”

He added that the aircraft are now being brought out of storage and the pilots have been testing them, stressing that all pilots and flight attendants have been retrained in line with NCAA directives.

On the airline’s readiness to resume regular flights, he stated: “As you know, we have been operating ‘chartered flights’ to local and international destinations, and we have more of such flights in the works.

“This accentuates our preparedness for operation restart as our pilots, cabin crew and engineers have been hands-on and are very current.

“So, we are hundred percent ready to resume”.

Air Peace has been operating charter and evacuation flights to various international destinations even as the flight ban persists.

It would be recalled that in April, the airline delivered the Federal Government of Nigeria’s medical supplies from Turkey and China to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has also operated several evacuation flights to India, Israel and China in the last two months.

Aero Contractors and Dana have also embarked on their own shakedown flights. 

These tests culminated with the test flight conveying the Aviation minister from Lagos to Abuja .He admitted to being convinced with the measures in place for the resumption of Domestic flights.