Virgin Nigeria begins London flights

New African airline Virgin Nigeria will begin operations on June 28 with a once-weekly flight between Lagos and London Heathrow. It is expected to expand to three flights on this route shortly.

Service within Nigeria and to regional destinations elsewhere in Africa is expected to be announced soon and is scheduled to commence in July.

Virgin Nigeria is owned by Nigerian investors who hold 51 percent of the company and by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic with 49 percent of shares.

The new airline will begin service using an Airbus A340-300 leased from Virgin Atlantic, and plans to be flying 10 airplanes by the end of 2006. At that time, the airline expects to employ about 100 Nigerian pilots and 400 Nigerian cabin crew.

Virgin Nigeria’s chief executive was quoted as saying that the airline’s goals are to build the leading African-based airline and to create a network of routes serving Africa and other destinations on a base of quality standards and service.

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