london to lagos - lagos to london

Travel and fact guide

Interesting about aeroplane industry in Nigeria, and economy of the nation from a UK view

History
On 28 September 2004 Nigeria and Virgin Atlantic Airways signed an agreement to establish an airline for Nigeria, called Virgin Nigeria Airways. Nigerian institutional investors own 51 % of the company and Virgin Atlantic Airways 49%. The airline's 1st flight was on 28 June 2005 from Lagos to London Heathrow using an Airbus A340 - 300 aircraft.
Virgin Nigeria Airways operates from an international terminal of Murtala Mohammed International Airport to Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, regionally to Accra, Dakar and Douala, and long haul flights to Dubai, Johannesburg and London (Gatwick). More domestic and international destinations are planned in line with its plans to develop a Lagos hub.

USA flights
There are plans to launch scheduled flights from its Lagos hub to Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. This would replace the original services of the defunct and liquidated Nigeria Airways. However, the Federal Aviation Administration has denied the airline a permit for a direct Nigeria - USA service. The basis for this denial is a dispute over the degree of British ownership in Virgin Nigeria. The USA accuses the UK, and Virgin Atlantic Airways which holds a 49% stake in Virgin Nigeria, of blocking efforts to liberalize the North Atlantic market to American carriers and has retaliated by denying this permit. In turn, the government of Nigeria has denied Continental Airlines a permit for direct U.S.-Nigeria flights. Negotiations are pending to resolve this situation and reopen this lucrative route.

On 22 December 2005 Virgin Nigeria made a new filing to the United States Department of Transportation for a foreign carrier permit, which points out that the degree of Virgin Atlantic ownership in Virgin Nigeria (49%) is not a barrier to granting such a permit.

Virgin Nigeria plans to add Newark as its 1st American destination, followed by Washington DC, and Houston.

On June 13, 2006 the Nigerian government gave North American Airlines, a charter company specializing in direct flights to Africa from the USA, permission to start direct scheduled flights from New York's JFK Airport to Lagos starting in late July.

expansion
Abidjan, Bamako, Brazzaville, Calabar, Enugu, Freetown, Libreville, Luanda, Maiduguri, Enugu, Monrovia and Yola.

The airline is also exploring Bangkok, Beirut, Frankfurt, Jeddah and Paris and Houston

Nigeria Airways was a former national airline of Nigeria, founded in 1958 with a h q in Lagos. The airline was owned by the government of Nigeria. It is now defunct. Prior to 1959 West African Airways Corporation operated services to London in association with BOAC using leased Boeing 377 Stratocruisers. WAAC was a joint venture on Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana, which left WAAC in 57. Nigeria Airways was formed as part of WAAC. It established an independent Nigerian corporation in 1968.

From 1962 theroute was operated by De Havilland Comet 4Bs. Nigeria Airways also operated a Douglas DC-3 on internal routes during the 1960s.

A Vickers VC10 was used from 1969, replaced by Boeing 707s in 1971. Douglas DC-10-30s were introduced in 1976 and Airbus A310s in 1983. While the A310s were on order Boeing 747-200s were used.

Nigeria Airways operated using IATA code 5N, ICAO code NIS.

Safety concerns
In 2001 the UK refused to allow Nigeria Airways to operate from Lagos to London due to concerns about the safety of the Air Djibouti Boeing 747 being leased in to operate the service. The service had been halted since 98.

In 2006 Vodacom, South Africa's leading mobile phone operator, pledged to invest some $600m in Nigerian number two operator Econet Wireless Nigeria.
The South African firm made the cash announcement after it revealed it had signed a management agreement to take over Econet after weeks of speculation.

Yorubatown

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