April 03, 2006

VIRGIN NIGERIA APPOINTS YEMI OSINDERO AS DIRECTOR, MARKETING AND MIKE HIGGINS DIRECTOR, SALES

Lagos, Nigeria, April 3, 2006: Virgin Nigeria, the country's fully private sector flag carrier, has approved the elevation and appointment of Dr. Yemi Osindero as the airline's Director, Marketing and Corporate Development.

Yemi Osindero, erstwhile Head, Corporate Development will in his new capacity continue to oversee the portfolio of Corporate Development and Government Affairs in addition to Network Planning, Marketing, Product and Service as well as Customer Relations.

Also, Mr. Mike Higgins will be joining the Virgin Nigeria executive team as Director, Sales and Outstations. He will be responsible for Sales; Revenue Management and Pricing; Reservations and Ticketing; Outstations and Cargo.

Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Nigeria, Mr. Conrad Clifford who made the announcement in Lagos said: "The experience of both men who have distinguished themselves in varying areas of the industry is highly needed at this challenging period of aviation development in Nigeria".

Clifford explained further that both directors have a mandate to sustain the tempo and quality of growth of Virgin Nigeria, especially because customers have become used to the young airline's quality of service, which has helped to raise the industry standard.

Yemi Osindero who holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering with first class honours and a PhD in Improved Oil Recovery from Bath University is a co-founder of Virgin Nigeria and one of the interim Directors of the airline.

Prior to his joining Virgin Nigeria, he was with Virgin Management Limited in the UK, where he worked as an Investment Manager responsible for strategy and new business development for various Virgin Group of companies.

Mike Higgins is bringing to Virgin Nigeria over 27 years experience in the aviation sector having started his aviation career with British Airways. He rose through the ranks to become a General Manager before joining Virgin Atlantic where he was Regional Manager Africa UK/Nigeria before his appointment as Director, Sales and Outstations of Virgin Nigeria.

The appointment of both directors took effect from March 31, 2006.

About Virgin Nigeria:
Virgin Nigeria is the registered, fully private sector flag carrier of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, owned 51% by Nigerian Institutional shareholders and 49% by Virgin Atlantic.

The airline operates the following

intercontinental services:
Lagos to London: Daily
Johannesburg: Three times a week
Dubai: Three times a week

Regional services:
Accra: Daily
Douala: Two times a week
Dakar: Two times a week

Domestic services:
Lagos - Abuja: Six times daily
***Lagos - Port Harcourt: Four times daily now temporarily cancelled
***Abuja - Port Harcourt: Once daily now temporarily cancelled
Lagos - Kano: Five times a week
Abuja - Kano: Five times a week

For reservations, call (01) 460 0505; (01) 271 1111; (09) 461 0505; (084) 460505

For all press enquiries, please contact: corporatecommunications@virginnigeria.com

For media information in Nigeria only, please contact Corporate Communications, 3rd floor, Ark towers, Plot 17 Ligali Ayorinde Street, VI, or corpcomm@virginnigeria.com; 234 -1 – 2711144

For media information in the UK please contact the Virgin Atlantic Press Office on 01293 747 373.