Cancelled Visas Were Verified by Saudi Govt, Foreign Affairs – Air Peace
Air Peace has responded to reports on cancelling the visas of 177 Nigerians out of the 264 passengers that flew with it to Jeddah on November 12, 2023.
According to the airline, the visas were verified using the visa confirmation platform provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia which confirmed the validity of each passenger visa before passengers were allowed to check-in for the flight.
The statement by signed by Oluwatoyin Olajide, chief operating officer, Air Peace, she said that Air Peace, as a scheduled flight operator with vast international operations experience, understands and complies with established protocols governing international flight operations and is not culpable of any infraction in this respect.
She explained that Air Peace is a scheduled operator between Nigeria and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the said flight was a scheduled flight and not a chartered/UMAR/HAJJ or any special flight.
“This scheduled flight means we are allowed to airlift all categories of passengers with different types of Visas as long as their Visas are VALID and approved by the Saudi Arabian Authorities. We are not limited to UMAR or HAJJ Visas alone on a scheduled flight.
“The visas of all passengers on the said flight to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia were checked and verified through the requisite procedures and were vetted to be valid before departure.
“The visas were verified using the visa confirmation platform provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia which confirmed the validity of each passenger visa before passengers were allowed to check-in for the flight.
All the Visas of the 264 passengers were duly verified, confirmed, and accepted as authentic for the trip through the Visa Portal provided by the Saudi Arabia Authorities, if not, no passengers would have been able to depart from Nigeria. This is just one of two steps required before a passenger is accepted on the flight to Saudi Arabia.
