BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
Air Peace has detailed the full scale of the financial and operational damage it suffered after what it describes as the “abrupt, unjustified and fraudulent” withdrawal of four wet-leased aircraft by SmartLynx Airlines, a move that crippled its schedules, stranded passengers nationwide and cost the airline over $15 million in losses within a single week.
But the carrier says the worst is now over, with two of its own aircraft already back from maintenance and full operations set to resume next week.
Speaking at a news conference in Lagos, Chief Commercial Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Nowel Ngala, said the airline entered the wet-lease agreement with SmartLynx solely to safeguard capacity while 13 of its own aircraft were undergoing scheduled maintenance abroad.
“The leased aircraft were already rostered to cover multiple routes when SmartLynx, without warning, withdrew all four.
“What happened was shocking and completely unacceptable,” Ngala said.
He added: “SmartLynx collected over $5 million from us, including more than $1 million in security deposits, and then pulled out without a single notice. Their action inflicted massive financial, operational and reputational damage on Air Peace. No airline should treat its partner this way.”
He said the withdrawal immediately triggered widespread delays and cancellations across the country, leaving passengers inconvenienced and the airline scrambling to stabilise operations.
Ngala stressed that the incident was not an isolated failure but part of a pattern of unprofessional conduct tied to the financial collapse engulfing the Latvian carrier.
Global reports, now circulating among aviation regulators and industry bodies, show that SmartLynx owes creditors more than €238 million and recently filed for creditor protection in Latvia.
The airline was also hastily sold to a distressed-asset fund just days before its insolvency filing, a move aviation analysts describe as a classic attempt to ring-fence debt while leaving partners exposed.
“We now know SmartLynx was sinking under a mountain of debt. Rather than disclose their situation, they withdrew aircraft they no longer had control over and attempted to exit the Nigerian market, knowing full well that we and other global partners would bear the consequences. It was a betrayal of trust”, Ngala stated.
He added that operators in other regions who leased from SmartLynx experienced similar disruptions, confirming a systemic failure rather than a dispute limited to Air Peace.
The airline said it has released three of the leased aircraft to their rightful owners “in good faith” and is insisting only on the refund of its funds.
The company warned that the recurring exploitation of Nigerian carriers by foreign lessors must be taken seriously by regulators.
Ngala recalled how Tunisia’s Syphax Airlines vanished with over $2 million belonging to Air Peace after claiming its aircraft was headed for routine maintenance.
“That aircraft never returned. The money never returned. And today, we are confronted with the same pattern from SmartLynx.
“We cannot continue allowing foreign partners to undermine Nigerian carriers and, by extension, the Nigerian travelling public”, he said.
Despite the severe blow, Air Peace says it is firmly in recovery mode. Two of its own aircraft have already returned from maintenance, with more scheduled to arrive in the coming days. The airline expects full stability across all routes by next week.
“We sincerely apologise to our passengers for the inconvenience caused. This episode cost us heavily, but we are bouncing back stronger. Our commitment to providing safe, reliable and world-class service is intact. We will restore complete schedule reliability and pursue full accountability from defaulting partners”, Ngala explained.
He emphasised that no setback, however engineered, would derail the airline’s mission.
“We serve Nigeria with pride. We owe our passengers nothing less than excellence.”
Olapeju is a journalist and aviation reporter.
1 Comment