Air Peace launches first-ever nonstop service between Nigeria and Brazil
September 12, 2025
Air Peace is launching a direct, scheduled service between Nigeria and Brazil, the first time two countries will have a non-stop connection.
The route, which cuts flight time across the Atlantic to just seven hours, eliminates the need for travellers to transit through Europe or the Middle East.
It will initially operate three times per week, with plans to increase frequencies in line with demand.
Air Peace launches Brazil service
Air Peace said its inaugural service operated at the end of August but regular scheduled services are not expected to commence until November.
The airline said the new route would enable Nigeria to act as a key access point into South America for African travellers, while also offering Brazilians onward links across the continent.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, welcomed the milestone during a press briefing at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport, describing it as a direct outcome of recent talks between Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“What we are seeing … is the first fruit of the diplomatic shuttle of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Brazil. In his wisdom, the President has decided to reopen and expand our economic, diplomatic, and trade relations with Brazil,” he said.
“Brazil is the biggest economy in South America, and Nigeria is considered the biggest economy in Africa. Connecting these two economies was very key to both presidents.”
Air Peace Chairman and CEO Allen Ifechukwu Onyema echoed those sentiments, saying the new service relied on partners “who will respect our sovereignty and not bully us”.
“Connectivity is at the heart of true partnership. By opening this corridor, we are bringing Nigeria closer to Brazil and, by extension, to South America and the Caribbean. This is the beginning of long-lasting opportunities for both regions.”
Fleet expansion to boost London connections
Air Peace Limited recently received its fourth Boeing 777 aircraft. The carrier uses the widebody on its connections to London Gatwick from Lagos. From October, the airline will serve both Gatwick and London Heathrow from another Nigerian city – Abuja.
The airline plans to connect Abuja with both London hubs on different days of the week, amounting to a six-times-weekly service.
Since launching UK operations in March 2024, Air Peace has only been operating flights into Gatwick, but the airline had long sought a move to Heathrow.
The airline had argued for parity with UK carriers such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which operate from the main London gateway into Nigeria’s primary international airports in Lagos and Abuja.
Last September, Nigeria’s minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, wrote a letter to the UK aviation authorities requesting slots for Air Peace at Heathrow.
The UK government had initially rejected Air Peace’s request for Heathrow slots, stating the applications were submitted too late for the 2024 summer and winter scheduling seasons.
