Saudi forces Air Peace plane return to Nigeria with all passengers

Saudi forces Air Peace plane return to Nigeria with all passengers 

Saudi Arabia authorities on Monday cancelled visas of 264 passengers airlifted by Air Peace after their arrival in Jeddah.

The Saudi asked the airline to return all 264 passengers to Nigeria.

It was learnt that the Nigerian embassy waded in, forcing the Saudi authorities to reduce the number of passengers that would be returned from 264 to 177.

The flight took off from the Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano on Sunday night and arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday.

The visa cancellation was said to have shocked the first passengers and airline personnel because they went through the advanced passengers pre-screening system (APPS) — which was also monitored by the Saudi Arabia authorities before the flight left Nigeria.

Some aviation experts in Nigeria suspected the development could be a plot to dissuade Air Peace from continuing its operations on the route given that the carrier had been recording a high load factor.

It was learnt that the Air Peace flight for Tuesday to Jeddah was already fully booked.

Saudi Air has been operating direct flights from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia.

But since Air Peace started its flight service to the Middle East nation at relatively lower fares, it has been receiving high patronage and this helps to save foreign exchange for the country.