August 18, 2006

VIRGIN NIGERIA ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY CANCELLATION OF ALL PORT HARCOURT BOUND FLIGHTS 

Lagos, 18 August 2006:  In compliance with the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) directive to shut down Port Harcourt International Airport to pave way for the complete resurfacing of the runway and expansion of the apron, Virgin Nigeria hereby announces temporary cancellations of all Port Harcourt bound flights from tomorrow, August 19, 2006.

Announcing the temporary cancellations of all Port Harcourt bound flights from tomorrow, the Director, Marketing & Corporate Development, Dr. Yemi Osindero said: "we have had to cancel all our Port Harcourt flights temporarily pending when we are able to set-up operations in an alternative airport that has capacity to accommodate our Boeing 737 aircraft".

"We sincerely apologise to passengers already booked on our service and we wish to assure that we will soon announce plans to operate into one of the alternative airports close to Port Harcourt and resume full operational service to ease passengers travel convenience", Yemi further said.

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.