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Nigerian Government Kicks As Canada Blocks Air Peace Repatriation Flight For Nigerians

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The Federal Government of Nigeria has rejected plans by the Canada High Commission to substitute AirPeace for Ethiopian Airlines.

Air Peace announced on Wednesday that its repatriation flight, scheduled to depart from Canada to Lagos on 14th May, has been postponed. The airline said in a statement that some logistic issues had prevented the Canadian government from allowing the flight to be operated. The Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa is in negotiations with the Canadian government to reschedule the flight to bring the Nigerian citizens home.

Air Peace was billed to begin evacuation of stranded Nigerians on May 14. Nigeria’s largest carrier, Air Peace had said it would deploy its B777 aircraft for the evacuation of 200 Nigerians stranded in Canada following the outbreak of the coronavirus after the Nigeria High Commission in Canada said it was ready to evacuate Nigerians stranded in that country.

It put the number of requests for evacuation it had received at no fewer than 200, saying that a Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Air Peace had been specially arranged to fly the intending returnees home on May 14.
The high commission noted that it could be the only special evacuation flight for Nigerian nationals stranded in Canada due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, explained on Thursday that the flight could not operate because the Canadian government had denied landing rights to Air Peace. At the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, the minister said that the Canadian government had refused to grant a landing permit to the carrier. This was because the airline does not have a license to undertake commercial flights to Canada.

However, indications emerged Friday that the Canada High Commission may have been responsible for the delay of the evacuation of Nigerians from the North American country by deferring Air Peace flight right and positioning Ethiopia Airlines to operate the airlift at a higher fare.

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