Airline operator, Air Peace, has said it would suspend its operations to Johannesburg in South Africa from August 22 over the difficulties in obtaining visa by Nigerian travellers.

Air Peace also identified worsening access to forex and acute scarcity as well as high cost of aviation fuel as other considerations for halting its operations to the South African city.

The management of the company, in a statement on Monday, said the operations would resume on October 8, 2022.

The statement read: “We hereby inform the flying public that effective from August 22, 2022, our Johannesburg flight operations will be suspended till October 8, 2022.

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“This development is regretted but has become inevitable due to the delayed issuance of South African visas, worsening forex crunch and the increasing cost of fuel as well as its scarcity.”

The company added that the effects of the issues raised lead to low passengers, but expressed hope that the visa issue would be tackled within 60 days, saying the South African High Commission has been informed.

“However, having informed the South African High Commission in Lagos of the effects of the difficulty in getting SA visas by Nigerians, which consequence is the abysmally low passenger loads on our flights to and from Johannesburg, we believe that the situation will have improved within the next 60 days. Hence, our willingness to resume operations on the October 8, 2022,” Air Peace added.

The airline, therefore, called on its passengers affected by the sudden announcement to either fly before or after the suspension while a refund option is also available.

The Star