Air Peace (P4, Lagos) is hoping to cooperate with Norse Atlantic (United Kingdom) (Z0, London Gatwick) to launch flights between Lagos and London Gatwick, as it struggles to secure its own slots at the British gateway, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, told local media. However, the airlines have held only initial talks so far.
Keyamo recently visited the United Kingdom to meet with government officials and lobby for Air Peace. However, the UK Department of Transport has limited options to support the carrier as slot allocation at British airports is governed by independent coordinator Airport Coordination Limited (ACL).
"We are hopeful that the fallout of the meeting would achieve its purpose of enabling Air Peace Airline to commence its flight operations into the United Kingdom, which Nigerians have been yearning for," said Chief Operating Officer Oluwatoyin Olajide.
However, Norse Atlantic Senior Vice-President (Communications) Philip Allport told ch-aviation that the airlines only had "an initial informal meeting" regarding the potential cooperation.
Norse Atlantic holds 44 weekly slots at Gatwick for the Summer 2024 season. An ACL capacity report reviewed by ch-aviation shows that Air Peace did not apply for slots at the airport for the upcoming season.
Norse Atlantic did not respond to ch-aviation's question as to whether it would lease or trade any of its slots to Air Peace or rather use them to operate on behalf of Air Peace. The British sister carrier of Norse Atlantic Airways currently connects Gatwick with Bridgetown (weekly), Miami International (3x weekly), Montego Bay (weekly), New York JFK (5x weekly), and Orlando International (6x weekly), using a total of 32 weekly slots. For the Summer 2024 season, the airline has been allocated slots to launch services to Boston and Las Vegas Harry Reid. The carrier operates six B787-9s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
Air Peace was authorised to operate to the UK in November 2023 but has yet to secure market access. It operates one B777-200ER and two B777-300s, as well as a fleet of narrowbody and regional aircraft unable to reach the UK non-stop, including seven B737-300s, six B737-500s, one Do328-300, eight E145s, and five E195-E2s. It has a firm order for five E175s, ten B737-8s, and eight more E195-E2s.
