Air Peace

Is Air Peace safe?

On fatal accidents, yes: Nigeria's largest airline has flown since 2014 without one, and it has written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary only one aircraft. It is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, which means an outside safety audit every two years. The catch is what Nigeria's investigators keep finding when something does go wrong. Several reports describe crews who pressed on with approaches they should have abandoned, or who coordinated poorly in the cockpit. After the latest, a runway overrunRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary at Port Harcourt in July 2025, both pilots tested positive for ethyl glucuronide, which NSIB says indicates recent alcohol consumption. We score Air Peace 64.

The July 2025 Port Harcourt overrun

Flight APK7190 from Lagos, a 30-year-old Boeing 737-500 registered 5N-BQQ, was on an ILS approach to runway 21 on a dry morning with good visibility. According to the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau's preliminary report, the captain, who was flying, disconnected the autopilot at 500 feet, drifted above the glide path and crossed the threshold at 200 feet. The first officer called for a go-around at least once. The captain told investigators he felt he could land safely, so he continued. The jet touched down 2,264 metres along the runway and stopped 209 metres past the end. All 103 people on board walked off unhurt.

The report adds two more findings. The cockpit voice recorder had been overwritten. And in the report's words, toxicology screening after the incident found that the captain and first officer "tested positive for Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG), indicating recent alcohol consumption". The captain also tested positive for cotinine (nicotine) and a cabin crew member for THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis. NSIB says the results are being reviewed as part of the investigation; it has not said whether they played a part in the overrun. NSIB recommended that Air Peace strengthen crew coordination training, especially go-around decisions and the authority gap between captains and first officers, and tighten fitness-for-duty checks before dispatch. Its interim statement of July 2026 says the draft final report is being prepared.

A pattern in the reports

The 2025 overrun was not the first time NSIB found an Air Peace crew pushing on. Its final reports on the earlier events read like variations on one theme:

There were also engine failures, such as a 737-500 that returned to Lagos in November 2019 after a main bearing failed, and a 737-300 that shut down an engine after take-off from Owerri in November 2021 and diverted to Port Harcourt. Those are mechanical events that well-run airlines also have. The crew-decision findings are the ones we weigh most heavily, because the same failure has now appeared over seven years.

Oversight and audits

Air Peace is an IATA member, which requires IOSA registrationIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, and the airline says it received its sixth consecutive IOSA certificate in January 2025. Nigeria's regulator, the NCAA, has not had its airlines placed on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, which in June 2026 named no Nigerian carrier. Nigeria does not appear on the FAA's April 2025 IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary list, which covers only some countries; that means "not listed", not a downgrade.

Two things hold the score back. NSIB first heard of the 2018 depressurisation on social media before Air Peace reported it, and of the 2019 hard landing only when a passenger phoned three weeks later. And Nigerian investigations are slow: the July 2019 hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary has produced seven annual interim statements but no final report (in July 2026 NSIB said it was complete and being finalised), so lessons reach the public years late.

What Air Peace flies

Air Peace does not publish a fleet list. Its own posts describe Boeing 777s for long-haul, Boeing 737s and Embraer jets for domestic and regional flights. Much of the domestic work is still done by 737-300s and -500s built in the 1990s; the jet in the 2025 overrun was built in 1995. Newer additions include an Embraer E-Jet 190 in June 2025, a dry-leased 737-700 from AerCap in November 2025 and a 737-800 in May 2026. The Boeing 777s fly to London: from Lagos since March 2024 and from Abuja, including Heathrow, since October 2025.

How to fly Air Peace more safely

• Prefer the newer jets on domestic routes when the schedule lets you. Check the aircraft type at booking; the 737-800 and Embraer 190 are a generation newer than the 737-300 and -500.
• Expect delays in the rainy season, and welcome them. Three of the serious events above happened on wet or gusty approaches to Lagos and Port Harcourt, and NSIB has asked for working windshear alerts and ATIS at Port Harcourt. A diversion or a hold for weather is the system working.
• Report what you see. NSIB found out about a damaged aircraft because a passenger phoned them. Its occurrence line and website take reports from the public.

How we scored it

The accident record (80) is clean of deaths but short, at 12 years, with one hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary. IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary lifts oversight (68), held back by unreported events and slow investigations. Serious incidents (35) is the weakest factor, reflecting the repeated crew-decision findings and the 2025 toxicology results. For African comparisons see Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.