20 June 08

VIRGIN NIGERIA LAUNCHES FLIGHT SERVICES TO LIBREVILLE

Lagos Nigeria, 20th June 2008: In line with its key objective to further expand its route network, especially in the West African sub region, Virgin Nigeria is set to commence flight services to Libreville, Gabon on June 23.

The proposed launch of the service will bring to five the number of regional routes flown by Virgin Nigeria.

“One of Virgin Nigeria’s key objectives is developing feeder routes and building strong trade ties between Nigeria and the neighboring countries. With the commencement of our flight into Libreville, passengers will have access to a seamless and convenient means of traveling to the francophone countries to conduct their businesses”, said Conrad.

He disclosed that good transport network is imperative to the success of any business around the world, as this aids the movement of goods and services.

The scheduled two times weekly flights to Libreville will be operated by a Boeing 737-300 aircraft while the service will be routed through Dakar.
 
With the scheduled commencement of the service, in-bound passengers from Libreville will be able to connect onwards to their final destinations either on the domestic network or the international routes as well as connecting directly to the interline partners. 

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 is constantly developing innovative products for the convenience of its customers. Some of these innovations include the online booking and payment system. The online and booking payment system allows the customer to book from anywhere in world, as well as make payments with an interswitch debit card for people in Nigeria and most international credit and debit cards for persons in London.

Virgin Nigeria’s customers traveling on the domestic service can also make use of the new ‘Carry On, Carry Off’ product called “COCO”. This product allows passengers traveling on the domestic service carrying cabin hand luggage which is over 6kg to hand these over to the attendants at the foot of the aircraft. These bags are specially tagged and collected by the passengers on arrival at the tarmac.

Virgin Nigeria recently 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.

Virgin Nigeria is listed on the IOSA Directory following its successful completion of the intensive IATA Operational Safety Audit which now places it at par with the best airlines in the world having shown its commitment and demonstration to airline safety standards

Virgin Nigeria is the first Nigerian airline and first West African carrier to be listed on the IOSA Directory.

For more information, visit www.virginnigeria.com