History made as Air Peace's direct Lagos-UK flight touches down at Gatwick

History was made on Saturday, March 30, 2024, as Air Peace's inaugural flight from Lagos to the United Kingdom touched down at Gatwick Airport in London.

The event marked the commencement of direct flight services by an indigenous airline from Nigeria to a European country in decades.

The luxury Boeing 777 aircraft took off at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at 12:10 am on Saturday and landed in London a few hours later.

The development comes a month after the airline announced plans to begin direct flight operations to London during a pre-launch forum it organised in February.

Sharing a video showing the moment the aircraft hit the Gatwick Airport runway on its X, formerly Twitter, handle, Air Peace expressed delight to have achieved the feat.

"When our wide-body, luxury Boeing 777 took off earlier today en route to London Gatwick...

'London service has commenced and we're delighted to have achieved yet another feat in our drive to continually provide peaceful connectivity across cities.

"A big thank you to everyone that contributed to the success of this launch," read the caption accompanying the video.

In an earlier post, the company described the event as another significant milestone in its trajectory as a foremost airline, bringing to seven its international destinations.

''This signals our entry into the European continent and further reflects our commitment to connecting cities," Air Peace said.

The airline thanked everyone who contributed to the actualisation of the launch and restated its commitment to continually provide peaceful connectivity across cities.

Present at the inaugural ceremony is the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anita, among others.