Air Peace dispatched a Boeing 777 to OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on 11 September 2019 and flew home the first batch of more than 300 Nigerians seeking to leave South Africa, as a wave of xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals and their businesses spread through Johannesburg and other cities. The airline said the flights were offered free of charge, with chairman Allen Onyema describing the airlift as a national duty rather than a commercial venture.
Part of a Wider Airlift
The Johannesburg flight formed the opening leg of a broader repatriation effort that would go on to bring home well over 600 Nigerians in the weeks that followed, as diplomatic tensions between Abuja and Pretoria over the attacks intensified. The route Air Peace flew to reach Johannesburg had for years been dominated by South African Airways and, previously, Arik Air, and the carrier's ability to mobilise a wide-body aircraft on short notice was later cited by its management as evidence the airline could sustain a scheduled service on the corridor.