On Friday morning (December 26th, 2025), Air Peace’s flight operations were delayed when its freshly purchased Embraer 195-E2 aircraft with registration number 5N-BYH was damaged at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).
WITHIN NIGERIA learned that the aircraft, which was due to fly Flight P47750 from Lagos to Accra, was struck by a luggage conveyor belt vehicle operated by the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) just after passengers boarded.
It was also learned that the belt hit the engine and damaged the thrust-reverser cowling, causing the airline to ground the plane and unload all 150+ passengers.
The aircraft was promptly grounded, and all passengers were instructed to disembark as a preventative safety measure.
WAS THE CANCELLATION OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS NECESSARY?
Many netizens have expressed worry about the termination of flight operations, citing disappointments, delays, and economic consequences.
However, the cancellation of flying operations was more than necessary. Despite the plane’s scheduled nine flights on Friday, all flying operations had to be cancelled.
A check by WITHIN NIGERIA showed that repairs for current jet engines might cost millions of dollars, making quick and immediate intervention difficult.
The findings also revealed that the situation was more than just mechanical; it was also a ground-handling safety red flag, which industry observers had frequently raised.
AIR PEACE’S FAULT?
Some netizens have accused Air Peace of emergency and troubled grounding, citing previous encounters, particularly the executives of the airline’s claim about a previous bird strike that cost $3.5 million to repair earlier this year.
Details provided by Air Peace executives revealed that the previous bird strike damaged an engine cowling, took a month to fix, but technical disruptions led to masked ground handling failures.
A check by WITHIN NIGERIA suggested that there’s a possibility that NAHCO’s equipment operator did not shut off the belt or use stoppers because the duty manager got injured while trying to stop it.
Despite the threats of tougher sanctions for negligent ground handlers by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), some analysts have alleged that imposing no penalties on Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), among others, whenever there’s disruption has allowed airlines to solely bear the fallout for third-party mistakes.
2021 Air Peace Grounding Crisis?
A check by WITHIN NIGERIA revealed that Air Peace, in April 2021, was forced to ground 17 of its aircraft for mandatory checks, leaving just 8 planes operational.
Findings revealed that the grounding of these aircraft was not due to safety failures or sanctions; rather, it was part of a planned fleet-wide maintenance program to keep the airline’s aging Boeing 737‑300/400/500 series airworthy under Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) regulations.
Additional findings revealed that these aircraft were older models; several required heavy “C‑checks” (major overhauls) that couldn’t be performed locally—so Air Peace wet‑leased 13 of them to SmartLynx Airlines for maintenance abroad.
However, SmartLynx reportedly withdrew four without notice, citing contractual defaults—a move that sparked a major dispute and left Air Peace scrambling to keep flights running.
In response, Air Peace claimed that more than $5 million of its money—including security deposits—was tied up with the lessor, and the abrupt withdrawal caused flight cancellations, delays, and about $15 million in total damages.
Air Peace later managed to recover three of the four seized aircraft and returned them to their owners, with one plane remaining grounded in Nigeria while the airline fought for a refund.
2022 Air Peace’s All-Fleet Grounding?
Air Peace, on May 9, 2022, suspended all domestic and regional flights after the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) announced a collective shutdown to protest skyrocketing jet fuel prices—which had jumped from N190/liter to N700/liter in just months.
In a statement released by Air Peace on the matter, it was disclosed that “in line with the decision of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, we hereby inform the public that from May 9, 2022, Air Peace will be suspending its domestic and regional flight operations till further notice.
However, the grounding was not Air Peace specific but throughout the aviation industry, caused by failed talks with the Federal Government, NNPC, and oil marketers.
Jet fuel price surges and unsustainable operating costs, among others, were causes behind the total shutdown as announced by AON, which was later suspended on May 10, 2022, after calls from top public officials who promised intervention.