07 February 07

VIRGIN NIGERIA AND NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINES ENTER STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP

Lagos: February 07, 2007:Virgin Nigeria Airlines, Nigeria's private sector flag carrier and North American Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Air Holdings, Inc. (WLDA.PK), have entered into an agreement to cooperate on several fronts.

The first phase will be an interline agreement to provide better through service to passengers who transfer between the two carriers travelling between the United States and Africa. This will provide Virgin Nigeria's African customers easy access to North American's non-stop flights from Lagos to New York while North American will now start selling several Virgin Nigeria destinations, including Abuja, the Nigerian political capital and Port Harcourt, the center of Nigeria's robust oil industry.

North American will also support Virgin Nigeria's pending application to the US DOT to serve the Lagos to New York market and Virgin Nigeria will amend its application to show that such service will be flown under a wet-lease agreement with North American. Once Virgin Nigeria receives DOT authority the airlines will codeshare on each other's flights.

Speaking on the partnership, the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin, Mr. Conrad Clifford said: "The coming of North American Airlines has been a major relief to Nigerians who have yearned for a shorter and less stressful air journey between Nigeria and the US. While Virgin Nigeria Airways awaits the approval of the DOT to fly its colours to the US, this partnership between both airlines provides an avenue for us to demonstrate our commitment to achieving our goal of safe, comfortable and seamless air travel for passengers of both countries".

Also speaking in the same vein, Rob Binns, North American's Chief Marketing Officer said "Virgin Nigeria has quickly built a reputation for excellent customer service, safety and schedule reliability, and we are proud to partner with such a quality company", stressing that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and Lagos makes for an excellent geographical hub for the continent.

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
 

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

Domestic services:
Lagos - Abuja: Six times daily
***Lagos - Port Harcourt: (Now diverted to Owerri two times daily)
***Abuja - Port Harcourt: (Now diverted to Owerri once daily)
Lagos - Kano: Five times a week
Abuja - Kano: Five times a week
Lagos - Sokoto: Two times a week from December 3rd 2006
Abuja - Calabar: three times a week from December 4th 2006

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.