27 February 07

VIRGIN NIGERIA VOTED AIRLINE OF THE YEAR

Lagos, Nigeria: 27 February 2007: The new face of flying was celebrated last Saturday as Nigeria's Flag Carrier, Virgin Nigeria was voted Airline of the Year, 2006.

This was at the very glamorous 12th Annual This Day Awards ceremony which was held at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos and attended by numerous high profile guests. Virgin Nigeria was presented with the coveted trophy, beating the other three competing airlines that were also nominated. Dr. Yemi Osindero, the Chief Operating Officer received the trophy on behalf of Virgin Nigeria.

To ensure transparency in the selection process, the auditing and verification process for the awards was carried out by foremost international auditors, Price Water House Coopers. Amongst the criteria used to assess the nomination and select the eventual winner – Virgin Nigeria – were safety, size of network, on time performance and product offerings.

Commenting on the award, the CEO of Virgin Nigeria, Conrad Clifford said: "It's gratifying that in only 20 months since the commencement of Virgin Nigeria operations, the airline has been voted as the airline of the year through a transparent process managed by the reputable firm of Price Water House Coopers".

"More importantly, Virgin Nigeria takes this award as a vote of confidence from our discerning customers. We are very grateful to them and we want to re-assure them that we will intensify our efforts at building a world class airline in Nigeria, the heart of Africa".

Continuing, Conrad said: "I speak for the whole board when I say how proud we are of our employees who have worked hard to realise this award".

"Our thanks also go to Leaders & Company, publishers of This Day Newspapers for their unique contribution to the growth of the aviation sector in Nigeria through the awards".

Virgin Nigeria's Airline of the Year award is coming on the heels of the nomination of Virgin Nigeria as one of the three best African carriers by the Association of South African Travel Agents (ASATA). The South African awards come up on Friday, March 23, 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The ASATA awards are aimed at identifying service providers in the travel industry who offer the best service to travel agents and have been held for the last 16 years. About 2500 travel consultants were contacted via a telephone interview process conducted by the reputable firm of Grant Thorton from which the three nominated airlines, including VNA were selected.

With over 1,000 employees, Virgin Nigeria whose introduction was heralded by customers as the new face of flying, commenced operations about 20 months ago and currently flies from Lagos to twelve destinations on the domestic, regional and international routes.

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: Eleven times a week
Douala: Two times a week
Dakar: Two times a week

Domestic services:
Lagos - Abuja: Eight times daily
***Lagos - Port Harcourt: (Now diverted to Owerri three times daily)
Lagos - Kano: Six times a week
Abuja - Kano: Six times a week
Lagos - Sokoto (via Abuja): Three times a week
Abuja - Sokoto: Three times a week
Lagos - Calabar: Six 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.