- Nigerian airline, Air Peace was sent back from Saudi with its 264 passengers
- The visas of the passengers were also canceled despite the airline arriving safe
- As of the time of this writing, an explanation is yet to the given by the Saudi on the reason for the action
Air Peace, airlifting 264 passengers was sent back from Saudi Arabia on arrival in Jeddah, from Kano on Monday, 13th November 2023.
In addition to this, the Saudi Arabian authorities announced that all the passengers’ visas were canceled.
Source: Getty Images
This is despite the fact that the flight which took off from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos via the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano on Sunday night reportedly arrived safely in Saudi.
Passengers were properly checked
Source expressed shock at the development given that the passengers went through the Advanced Passengers Prescreening System (APPS) during check in. The APPS was reportedly monitored by the Saudi Arabia authorities before the flight left Nigeria.
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Breaking: Anxiety as Saudi Arabia cancels visa of Nigerian passengers on arrival in Jeddah
There are concerns that the action may have been geared towards discouraging the airline from operating to the destination.
Recall that the airline recently expanded its Asian footprint, commencing a direct flight into Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
BusinessDay reported that since it started the operation, it has been recording high load factor and helping to conserve foreign exchange for the country.
Meanwhile, another source from the Nigerian embassy in Jeddah said the even the Saudi immigration personnel are not aware of who canceled the visas. The source added that the visas were canceled when the airline was already airborne to Jeddah.
“The airline was exonerated in all this as the Advanced Passenger Prescreening System(APPS) which is live between both countries would have screened out any invalid visa and its passenger. The system accepted all affected passengers and passed them on,”
the source said.
Legit.ng had reported that Air Peace recently secured a Foreign Carrier Operator Permit (FCOP) to fly to London.
Air Peace, Dana, Max Air, Other Nigerian Airlines Missing From 10 Best-Performing Airlines in Africa
Nigerian airlines are conspicuously missing from the top 10 best-performing airlines in Africa, Legit.ng reported.
The development comes despite one of Nigeria’s largest carriers, Air Peace, announcing that it has been certified to fly the Lagos-London route.
The 2022-2023 survey includes an assessment of over 325 airlines and involved participants from over 100 countries as customers from September 2022 to May 2023.
Source: Legit.ng
