Leading domestic airline, Air Peace has raised the bar with its international routes by adding Johannesburg to the mix with the commencement of the Lagos to Johannesburg route which started December 17. Analysts say that this is s deft move considering that the major competitor on that route South African Airlways (SAA) may not commence flights until 1st of February, 2021, so Air Peace will operate that route without a direct competition for the next two months. Air Peace will use its B777-200ER for the route for now, according to company sources.
The 4,511-kilometre route currently has no direct competition and is operated twice-weekly with an elapsed time of six hours in both directions. It leaves Lagos at 0100, arrive Johannesburg at 0800, departs at 1100, and arrives back at 1600.
It could be recalled that South African Airways has operated the route for years on which the airline had over 232,000 seats – its most – in 2014. It’ll resume the route on a daily basis from 1 February 2021. Also, Arik Air operated it until 2017 and depending on the year it variously used B737-800s, A330-200s, and A340-500s. Virgin Nigeria operated it briefly in 2012 using A330-200s.
At its peak in 2014, Lagos – Johannesburg had over 462,000 seats, but this diminished to just 179,000 in 2019.