The managing director and chief executive officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has expressed the company’s readiness to operate direct flights to Israel.
Onyema said this when he paid a courtesy visit to Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Rev. Yakubu Pam in his office in Abuja at the weekend.
Onyema was accompanied by the Israeli ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman.
He said Air Peace desired to kick off flights from Lagos to Tel Aviv in order to ease the burden of connecting flights on intending pilgrims from Nigeria.
On his part, Pam said: “Having a direct flight to Israel by a Nigerian airline will curtail the issue of high expenditure and reduce abscondment.”
He said, “Our joy is that our own person, a Nigerian, will be the first to have this opportunity to airlift pilgrims directly to Israel”.
Pam added that it would drastically reduce the cost of flights, as he expressed gratitude to the ambassador for considering it imperative to pay a courtesy visit to NCPC.
“We are very humble to receive you here in your capacity as one who represents the entire country of Israel in Nigeria,” Pam said.
He further explained that NCPC was set up primarily to coordinate and supervise the movement of Christians to Israel and other holy places around the world.
Pam commended the Israeli ambassador for his zeal and doggedness in charting a way forward for Christian pilgrimage and also applauded Onyema for his national humanitarian interventions.
The ambassador, in his remarks, thanked the NCPC boss for all his efforts in advancing the cause of Christian pilgrimage in Nigeria.
He expressed delight in working with the NCPC, stressing that, “we have a true partnership to grow together”.
