Air Peace: A giant leap from London to Lagos.

I was looking forward to home for Christmas.Yet time and circumstance overwhelmed me,this fateful day of December morning at the heart of London

Anxiety and winter were stalking around,even as I lay cuddled by the softest of duvet,supple white, under a warm heater frying air,inside an upscale Stratford apartment.

There was cause for trepidation with the wide distance.Romford to Idumuje Unor is not Onitsha to Asaba.Or Kano to Abuja.
It is a long journey across seas,lands and mountains.

Time was about 5 O clock in the morning. With thoughts still running riot,in the deep recesses of my mind, a chauffeured Volkswagen SUV headed southwards,racing through a haze of wintery mist.

The mother of Europe was just waking as her paved charcoal- black roads came gradually alive.London’s scintillating sights and scenery with her sprawling historical architecture and stunning skyscrapers, only offered a temporary respite.

Soon a huge bird flapped it’s wings and speedily hit the skies!

I smiled and slowly sank into a sleep in the bowel of the clouds.

Then a gentle tap came and a tray of chicken jollof rice, juice,water, ,desserts and sweets dotted my laps.

Hours later,a drama landed while we floated.

“Are you Ekeinde”?

“I think I am”

“Omotola’s husband? ”

He gave my rhetorical question a wink.

A pleasant surprise enveloped me and two female Passengers on seat 55 row. Phones presumably on airplane mode were clicking selfies. Women especially, went ecstatic as they turned their necks and waggle their shoulders left and right in excitement, grinning from ear to ear.

What a man! Tall, imposing and bearded with silvery hairs, he stood delicately handsome, his looks polished caramel. I thought I saw Don Williams!

But this is Captain Matthew Ekeinde ,co-pilot of Airpeace flight, London to Lagos, poking polite humour as he shared banters from aisle to aisle with over 200 passengers.

Strolling on the plane in company of a female air hostess, he posed for photographs,here and there, teasing all that he would charge a token.

A jovial pilot with decades of experience, Ekeinde who originally hails from Sabongida Ora in Edo state,with maternal roots from Ndokwa axis of Anioma, Delta state ,stirred sensation interacting with the Air peace travelers.

Brimming with bravura ,as he swaggered front into the aircraft chamber,it was easy to spot the confidence that propelled him to stage a wedding ceremony with his heart throb and Nollywood star, Omotola Jalade reportedly in mid air years ago.

But what a man can do a woman can fly!

In the cockpit controlling the Boeing 777 plane we would learn later, was Phina Nwando Okparaeke.

A statuesque,dark, bosomy female
Pilot,Phina like the skillful Ekeinde, is a frequent flyer of record.

A native of Abam Azia in Ihiala local government area of Anambra State, she made history flying the first Air Peace plane that landed in Anambra International Cargo Airport located in Umueri, on Friday April 30, 2021.

Both Ekeinde and Phina are game changers.

Airpeace on international route never sounded funky to me .After flying South African airways ,Emirates,Qatar,Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue to Jo’burg,Port Elizabeth, Dublin,London,Paris,
Doha,Cayman Islands, etc at different times, airpeace seemed unthinkable.

Looming often among local airlines,were safety concerns and issues of flight cancellations.Again ,fixated on the more familiar Heathrow airport,I had doubts about Gatwick.

Nonetheless,the Gatwick -Lagos trip turned out a true tickler.I learnt afresh that experience is the best teacher in life.

Travelling earlier Monday 25th November 2024, Lagos – Gatwick, I had encountered calm in the air.The Airpeace twin jet took off at Murtala Mohammed airport around 12.45p.m and landed London few minutes to 7a.m.Good timing ,Great touch down.

The return trip to Lagos was softer and particularly memorable.From 11.25a.m to 5.45a.m, it was 6 hours of velvety cruise as the transworld airliner floated effortlessly above the clouds.No turbulence,no tension.

By the time the massive plane commenced it’s final descent,with increased roar,I stood alert as fleeting images of Lagos landscape, houses and foliage flashed into the eyes, all crawling like tiny termites on anthill.

I read long ago on a trip enroute Kotoka airport Ghana that the most dangerous time on board is take off and landing.

I was sitting with bathed breath when the tyres of the inbound London- Lagos aircraft coiled out from its huge belly.Then the body of the Boeing embraced the MMA tarmac in a soft kiss,steadily smooching the runaway in a giddy tango for minutes,until it screeched to pulsating climax.

That was the smoothest landing, I have ever witnessed in my aviation experience,since I first boarded aero contractor jet, (heart in my mouth) , in 1999 at Osubi airport near Warri.

The founder of Airpeace,Dr Allen Onyema, innovative and resilient, has given the world something very high to cheer about Nigeria,even in the face of odds.Onyema’s feat profoundly feeds our country’s image and reputation among the comity of nations.Nigeria is flying unstoppable,soaring in international skies.

Good to fly on Eagle wings-Airpeace. I basked in bliss,a journey so eventful for a restless journalist in love with human episode.

Here’s a toast to encouragement.Many flowers to Delta state Governor Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori,SSG,Dr Kingsley Emu, Senator Ned Nwoko, my good natured cousin Eddy Odita,buddy Dantes Odogwu and my perfect hosts/pathfinders – Rory Peck Trust ,a foundation,celebrating journalism with so much class.

Travel if you can.There is peace in air adventure.

CHIAZOR is a veteran journalist and former Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists Delta state council.