Air Peace Airline Has The Largest Fleet In Africa?
On July 22, 2025, a X user @AfricaFirsts made several claims about Air Peace, a Nigerian private airline owned by Allen Onyema. The post had a picture of an Air Peace branded plane fleet with Allen Onyema, the chairman and CEO of Air Peace Limited posing in front of it. The caption on the post reads, ‘AirPeace, a Nigerian 🇳🇬 private airline owned by Allen Onyema, has transported 55.8 million passengers over 8 years since its inception in 2014. Air Peace is one of the largest airlines by fleet size in Africa with about 44 planes. It achieved a record 14.1 million passengers in 2022.’
As of when this report was published, the claim had over 43,700 views and about 2,100 replies, reposts, quotes, likes, and bookmarks. In the comment section, @airdropbabe6 said “PR the cry after the turbulence” and @Success02967773 wrote “It's indigenous entrepreneurs that will build this country Nigeria not our crooked politicians and government. Kudos to Onyema🫶”.
VERIFICATION
CLAIM 1: Air Peace Has Transported Over 55 Million Passengers in 8 Years
Verification
According to verified figures published by Daily Trust, and Independent Nigeria amongst others, Air Peace transported a total of 55,821,258 passengers between 2014 and 2022. The airline’s year-by-year passenger traffic showed steady growth, leading to a record 14,103,018 passengers in 2022 alone.
In a recent report Air Peace and Arik Air airlines emerged as the most patronised domestic carriers in the country, combining to net one-third of the 15.6 million passenger traffic recorded in 2024.
CLAIM 2: Air Peace Has The Largest Fleet In Africa
Verification
According to data from African Airlines Association, AFRAA, Ethiopian Airlines takes the top spot recorded to be Africa’s largest airline with a fleet of 135 aircraft, followed by Egypt Air – 71, Air Algerie – 55, Royal Air Maroc – 50 and Kenya Airways – 34. Air Peace and Tunisair have 20 and 19 fleets respectively.
CONCLUSION
While claims about Air Peace’s passenger numbers being 55.8 million in 8 years and 14.1 million in 2022 alone are accurate, the claim about its fleet size is FALSE. The actual active fleet is 20, and it ranks below several other major African carriers.
