01 April 08

VIRGIN NIGERIA LAUNCHES ITS CONTINUOUS PILOT TRAINING SCHEME …EIGHT CADET PILOTS OFF TO FLORIDA FOR TRAINING

Lagos, Nigeria: 01 April 2008: The Virgin Nigeria’s Cadet Pilot training scheme has formally kicked off with the formal presentation of the pioneer set of cadets billed for training in the United States of America.

The eight cadets made up of one female and seven males were presented to the media at a colourful event attended by their parents, senior management of Virgin Nigeria as well as renowned aviation professionals.

“Today marks the commencement of our continuous pilot programme which will boost our crop of younger indigenous pilots to effectively man our operations”, Conrad said, noting that the cadet pilots will be trained at the Flight Safety Academy Centre in Florida for 10 months from where they will obtain their Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) to commence their flying career.

He further stated that the investment in the training of the cadet pilots is part of the current effort by Virgin Nigeria to positively nurture and position indigenous manpower to fill the vacuum in the industry caused by the dearth of pilots owing to the impending retirement of the current pool of pilots.

Responding on behalf of his colleagues, Miss Aniebonam Chinelo expressed their delight at the great opportunity offered by the training programme and assured that they will put in their level best to justify the huge investment to encourage the continuity of the programme.

The cadet pilots on the completion of their training programme will be absorbed as First Officers and in the years ahead will rise through the ranks to become Captains manning the Virgin Nigeria fleet.

Captain Dele Ore, a renowned aviation professional and President of the Aviation Round Table (ART) commended Virgin Nigeria for taking up the initiative of sending indigenous cadets on the training programme which will qualify them as pilots.

Captain Ore urged the cadets to be worthy ambassadors as the survival of the scheme depends on their overall performance, noting that pilot training scheme is so capital intensive making it difficult for individuals to readily support themselves through the programme.



About Virgin Nigeria

Virgin Nigeria is Nigeria's private sector flag carrier, 51% owned by Nigerian institutional investors and 49% owned by Virgin Atlantic. The airline was formed in September 2004 when the Federal Government of Nigeria announced the selection of Virgin Atlantic Airways as the strategic investor and technical partner in this exciting project. With the mission of being a World Class Airline from the heart of Africa, Virgin Nigeria, has steadily developed a global network that serves domestic, regional and international routes from its operational hub at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

With a focus on improving the Customer’s Experience, Virgin Nigeria constantly develops innovative products for the Customer‘s Convenience. Some of these product innovations include the online booking and payment system which allows the Customer book from anywhere in world and make payments with an Interswitch debit card for people in Nigeria and most international credit and debit cards for persons in London.
 
At the just concluded Dubai Air Show, Virgin Nigeria announced an order for 24 Embraer aircraft. The order consists of E170s and E190s jets. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for September 2008.

For more information, visit www.virginnigeria.com