June 27, 2006

VIRGIN NIGERIA MARKS ONE YEAR, VIRGIN ATLANTIC CLOCKS FIVE

27 June, 2006, Lagos, Nigeria: This week sees 2 Virgin companies celebrate their birthday in Lagos. Virgin Nigeria, the country's private sector flag carrier is a year old, whilst Virgin Atlantic celebrates 5 years of flying into Nigeria.

Both airlines launched flight operations with inaugural flights to London Heathrow, one on the 28th June, 2005 and one on the 17th July 2001. You can guarantee that in good Virgin style, their celebrations will be with great pomp and pageantry.

Since the maiden flight, Virgin Nigeria now flies to nine destinations in seven countries in the configuration of three domestic, three regional and three international routes.

With an initial fleet size of three aircraft, the airline now has six aircraft - all appropriately painted in Nigeria's national colours of green-white-green.

Virgin Nigeria currently has a workforce of 750 employees made up of 200 Nigerian cabin crew, 50 Nigerian pilots and about 500 other Nigeria / expatriate employees deployed to various departments of the company.

Most of these employees, especially the pilots, aircraft engineers and cabin crew were trained both in Nigeria and in Europe, thus helping to resuscitate the crucial manpower sector of the airline industry.

This is in addition to giving employment opportunities to numerous Nigerians through indirect employment and opportunities in the ancillary hospitality sector.

Speaking on the first anniversary of Virgin Nigeria Airways Limited, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Conrad Clifford said: "That we are today celebrating the first birthday of Virgin Nigeria is a tribute to the vision of the promoters of this laudable project, the Federal Government of Nigeria and Virgin Atlantic Airways, the resolute belief in the project by all our investors and the goodwill of all Nigerians, especially our customers and all our employees who worked very hard to ensure that the vision for Virgin Nigeria Airways translates into reality. We are very proud of our joint efforts to fly the flag for Nigeria".

Mrs. Sam Olsen, Country Manager Virgin Atlantic commented that it has been indeed 5 remarkable years.

"It has literally been a whirlwind of non stop activities and excitement for Virgin Atlantic in Nigeria" she added.

"We have enjoyed tremendous support from the Nigerian nation and we are extremely grateful. These include individuals and corporate bodies who have made Virgin Atlantic their choice of travel. At the moment, Nigerian membership of our frequent flyer program Flying Club is well over 14,000!"

"This is very impressive in view of the fact that the club took off a year after our operations began. It is this support and commitment to us that really pushes us to go that extra mile to always be the Virgin Atlantic our customers want us to be. I feel that we have really raised the standard with regards to international travel out of Nigeria".

In March 2005, the airline launched the Upper Class Suite in Lagos, which is the most revolutionary seat in the sky.

The Upper Class suite is different to anything else flying today. The product has been designed to be separately both the most comfortable bed and the most comfortable seat in the air. Instead of extending from a seat into a bed, Virgin Atlantic's seat provides the passenger with a luxury leather armchair to relax on which then flips over into a separate bed with a mattress to sleep on. Passengers can recline in the seat even for take-off and landing!

In Nigeria, Virgin Atlantic achieved a number of firsts' in the industry, which include the introduction of Nigerian Cabin Crew, NGN50,000.00 return fare to London and so on.

Virgin Atlantic has won several awards within this period as well, including ATQ's Airline of the Year, Best Economy Cabin, Best Airline to America, Best Consumer Sensitive Airline (International), St. Moritz Most Stylish Airline, etc.

In line with the company's core value of care to not just customers, Virgin Atlantic has also been involved with several charities and NGO's that are dedicated to health related issues. These include Kanu Heart Foundation, BEARS Foundation, Hope Worldwide, Family Care, Nigerwives Association and a host of others.

Virgin Nigeria has excellent product offering in all its class configurations; including very comfortable leg room, a blend of Nigerian and international cuisine as well as international blockbuster / Nigerian movies and radio channels on board her aircraft.

The airline has consistently led the market by introducing competitive fares and special baggage allowance to customers in all its routes.

According to Clifford, "the two airlines are a formidable aviation synergy that continues to enhance the service options available to the traveling public throughout Nigeria. It's all about combining the best of Nigeria with the best of Virgin".

Both airlines operate daily flights out of Lagos into London Heathrow (Virgin Atlantic) and London Gatwick (Virgin Nigeria), giving travellers a double daily service to the UK.

Connections are available at both airports onto over 20 destinations across the globe, on Virgin Atlantic and partner airlines.

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.