Thursday, August 28, 2025 - Days after Nigeria and Brazil signed a bilateral air service agreement (BASA) for direct flights between both countries, Nigeria’s biggest carrier, Air Peace, has operated the first direct flight to the Latin American country.

It would be recalled that the agreement was signed on Monday when President Bola Tinubu visited his Brazilian counterpart President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the BASA between Nigeria and Brazil was signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, alongside Brazil’s Minister of Transport, Silvio Costa Filho, in the presence of both Heads of State.

Following the agreement, Air Peace deployed its wide-bodied Boeing 777 aircraft to Brazil, bringing back many Nigerians including members of the President’s delegation to Brazil.

The aircraft touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos around 3:30 pm.

On board the inaugural flight were the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN; Minister of Trade and Investment,  Mrs. Jumoke Oduwole; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Minister of Defence Alh. Mohammed Badaru Abubakar.

Others were Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; Director General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Presidential Media Aides, Sunday Dare and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz; Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, among others.

Keyamo who spoke with newsmen, stated that connecting Brazil, the biggest economy in South America, with Nigeria, also considered as one of the biggest economies in Africa, is strategic for both countries.

He pointed out that trade between both countries plummeted from $10 billion to $2 billion, in 10 years due to little or no connectivity.

But with the flights, he is confident that the trade relations will pick up again, adding, “And key to this, key to the achievement of all the agreements we signed, is the connectivity between both countries.”

He stated that most of them on the flight would not have arrived yesterday without a direct flight facilitated by Air Peace.

“So what you are seeing today is the first fruit (of the BASA). We are bringing back an actual fulfillment, an actual gain of that business, which is the first major flight between Brazil and Nigeria. So it is not an audio agreement.

Some people would have gone to the Middle East, to either Doha or Dubai. Many would have gone to Europe to try to connect. Whereas all we did was to cross the Atlantic,” he said.

Air Peace Chairman disclosed that the airline would commence a scheduled flight between both countries by the last quarter of the year.

He stated that the airline has commenced discussions with domestic airlines in Brazil to have an interline arrangement as the carrier commences direct flight to the South American country.

Onyema stated that the airline would also connect other South American countries, disclosing that he is already in discussion with Columbia.

He said, “First of all, I thank God Almighty for this day because it has been long overdue. Like the Minister of Aviation said, connectivity is the key to everything. Our dear President signed several MoUs with Brazil. He has just opened this country.

“He is creating Nigeria for the future of everyone. And you might not know the opportunities that are embedded in all the MOUs he signed until they are being implemented. It is huge. But what we did today is symbolic and at the same time real.”