31 October 08

AFRICA TRAVEL QUARTERLY NAMES VIRGIN NIGERIA BEST AIRLINE IN WEST AFRICA

Lagos Nigeria, 31st October 2008: Virgin Nigeria Airways Limited over the weekend emerged the “Best Airline in West Africa” at the 2008 Africa Travel Awards organized by the Africa Travel Quarterly.

Whilst receiving the award in her office, the Head Corporate Communications of the airline, Mrs. Nkiru Olumide-Ojo, thanked the organizers for their consistent efforts at recognizing organizations that are building a credible image for Africa, especially the sub-region, as a tourism destination.

Olumide-Ojo reiterated that Virgin Nigeria remains committed to its vision of building a world class airline based in Nigeria. “Our dream is to provide a seamless network that aids transportation across West Africa and beyond. Winning yet another prestigious award has further convinced all of us at Virgin Nigeria that we are on the right path in raising the bar of performance”.

Virgin Nigeria has in the last one month raised standards in the domestic and regional travel patterns through the introduction of its E-190 jet that has individual In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system – the first in the sub-region

The company is currently rolling out an aggressive route plan in the region targeted at opening trade relationships between Nigeria and other nations as well as consolidating on existing route networks.



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 customers to book from anywhere in world, as well as make payments with either an Interswitch or Etranzact payment 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 just recently took delivery of its Embraer 190 aircraft that is equipped with individual In-Flight Entertainment system as part of its total fleet renewal. It will be recalled that Virgin Nigeria last year announced an order for 24 Embraer aircraft consisting of E170s and E190s jets. 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