Untold Story On The Deportation Of Air Peace Passengers From Saudi Arabia

The embarrassment faced by 264 passengers on an Air Peace flight that arrived Saudi Arabia last Monday when their visas were canceled by that country had more to do with aviation politics than the claim of irregularity in their visa applications, GWG.ng has learnt.

The move by Air Peace to service Nigeria’s leg of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement, BASA with Saudi Arabia, it was gathered, had received a cold shoulder from the Saudis who had until now monopolized that route with Saudia, the official airline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

GWG.ng had reported how all 264 passengers on the flight were initially denied entry on the claim of irregular visa application. Subsequently, some of them were allowed in while 177 of the passengers were turned back.

Passengers and airline personnel were taken by surprise, as they had undergone Advanced Passengers Prescreening System (APPS) checks during check-in, which were monitored by Saudi Arabian authorities before departure. Questions arose about whether this was a deliberate strategy to discourage the airline, given Air Peace’s consistent high load factors. The upcoming Tuesday flight to Jeddah was already fully booked.

GWG.ng further gathered that Air Peace which collects its tickets in naira had proved to be about the lowest airline servicing the route charging about N400,000 below the ticket price of Saudia and more than N100,000 below what Ethiopian Airlines charges for the route.

The move it was gathered had opened up the prospect of Air Peace displacing the other airlines on the route and with it saving substantial foreign exchange for Nigeria.

A lie to the claim by the Saudi authorities of irregularity in visa applications GWG.ng gathered was the fact that family members who split themselves to travel on the official Saudi Airline, Saudia did not have problems on arrival despite processing their visas jointly with family members who travelled on Air Peace.

“How come those who processed their visas the same way but travelled on Saudia did not have any problem but only those who travelled with Air Peace,” one stakeholder muttered.

It was further gathered that based on the development the passengers who had earlier booked to travel with Air Peace are now cancelling sending a message to Nigerian travelers that the surest guarantee for them into Saudi Arabia is not to travel with Air Peace.

Stakeholders in the aviation industry see this as another challenge for Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, SAN who already has his job well cut for him and has inspired confidence in the local airlines to compete for Nigeria’s BASA slots.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Nigeria has said that travellers deported at the point of entry did not meet the entry conditions and requirements of its country.

A statement by the Embassy said that passengers denied entry, and subsequently deported to their initial destinations, submitted incorrect information to obtain categories of visa they did not qualify for.

“The discovery was made on their arrival.

“The Embassy would like to stress the importance of following the procedures and laws enacted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for all visitors.

“Furthermore, all passengers should review all documents to determine their conformity with the conditions prior to departing from their countries to the Kingdom.

“This procedure was not limited to Nigerian citizens only; citizens of other countries were involved,” he said.(NAN)

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