Air Nigeria

Air Nigeria

IATA VK ICAO VGN Callsign VIRGIN NIGERIA
Founded	2004 (as Virgin Nigeria)
Commenced operations	28 June 2005
Operating bases	Murtala Muhammed International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Eagleflier
Fleet size	11
Destinations	17
Parent company	Nicon Group (50%) Virgin Atlantic Airways (50%)
Headquarters	Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria
Key people	Jimoh Ibrahim (Chairman) Kinfe Kahssaye (CEO)
Website	www.myairnigeria.com

Air Nigeria (formerly Nigerian Eagle Airlines and Virgin Nigeria Airways), is the national flag carrier of Nigeria. The airline operates scheduled regional and domestic passenger services. Its base is Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. The airline is a replacement for defunct Nigeria Airways. Its registered office is in Ikoyi, Lagos State, while its head office is on the 9th floor of Etiebets Place in Ikeja, Lagos State.^[1]

The carrier's loyalty programme is named 'Eagleflier'.

History

Virgin Nigeria's logo.

On 28 September 2004, the Nigerian government and Virgin Group signed an agreement to establish a new airline for Nigeria, to be called Virgin Nigeria Airways. Nigerian institutional investors owned 51% of the company and Virgin Atlantic Airways the remaining 49%. The airline's inaugural flight was on 28 June 2005 from Lagos to London Heathrow using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft. Virgin Nigeria quickly became one of Nigeria's largest airlines, carrying its 1,000,000th passenger and 4,000th ton of freight within two years of operation. The airline has also received accolades including THISDAY Awards 2006 Airline of the year^[2] and a nomination for 2006 African Airline of the year by ASATA (Association of South African Travel Agents).^[3] Virgin Nigeria had plans of making Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja its second base where in addition to its Lagos base Murtala Mohammed International Airport it would serve all countries in West Africa.^[4]

The Nigerian government set a deadline of 30 April 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded, in an effort to ensure better services and safety. The airline satisfied the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s criteria in terms of re-capitalization and was re-registered for operation.^[5]

Sale of Virgin's stake and rebranding

A Virgin Nigeria Airbus A330-200 at London Gatwick Airport, England that was leased from bmi. (2007)

On 19 August 2008, Virgin Atlantic announced that it was "in talks to sell its 49 percent stake in Virgin Nigeria" and reviewing "whether it is appropriate that the Virgin brand should remain linked to Virgin Nigeria”.^[6] This followed a dispute which arose after Virgin Nigeria's domestic operations were moved against its will by the Ministry of Transportation to Terminal 2. Virgin Nigeria had twice refused the directive to relocate its domestic operations from the international terminal citing the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding it signed with the previous (Olusegun Obasanjo) administration and pending appeal in a Lagos High court as reasons for not complying.

On 9 January 2009, Virgin Nigeria announced they would suspend all long haul flights to London Gatwick Airport and Johannesburg, effective 27 January 2009.^[7].

Logo used for Nigerian Eagle Airlines.

On 17 September 2009, Virgin Nigeria announced on their website they had rebranded as Nigerian Eagle Airlines. Nigerian Eagle Airlines also stated that they planned to focus on domestic and regional flights with further expansion into Europe and eventually the United States of America.^[8] Virgin retained its 49% stake in the new Nigerian Eagle Airlines with the remaining 51% held by Nigerian investors.

On 2 June 2010, following the acquisition of a majority share in the airline, Jimoh Ibrahim, the new Chairman, announced that the airline had undergone a further name change to Air Nigeria Development Limited, branded as Air Nigeria.^[9]

Destinations

Main article: Air Nigeria destinations

Codeshare agreements

• Kenya Airways (SkyTeam)^[10]
• Delta Air Lines (SkyTeam)^[11][12]

Fleet

Current

The Air Nigeria fleet consists of the following aircraft (at December 2010):^[13]

Air Nigeria Fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Orders	Passengers
			J	Y	Total
Boeing 737-300	8	0	16	100	116
Boeing 737-400	1	0
Embraer E-190	2	7	12	84	96
Total	11	7

Past fleet

A Virgin Nigeria Airbus A320-211 departs Brussels Airport, Belgium. The aircraft was leased from BH Air. (2005)

Before rebranding, Virgin Nigeria had also operated the following aircraft:^[14]

Virgin Nigeria Airways Past Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Airbus A320-211	2	2005	2007	Leased from BH Air
Airbus A330-200	1	2007	2007	Leased from bmi
Airbus A340-300	2	2005	2006	Leased from Virgin Atlantic Airways
ATR 42-500	1	2008	2009	Leased from Interstate Airlines
Boeing 737-300	2	2005	2007	Leased from GECAS
Boeing 767-300ER	2	2007	2009	Leased from SmartLynx Airlines
Fokker 50	2	2007	2008	Leased from Denim Air

References

1. ^ "AN Registered Offices." Air Nigeria. Retrieved on 28 June 2010.
2. ^ Virgin Nigeria wins 2006 Airline of the Year award., AllAfrica.com website, retrieved March 27, 2007
3. ^ Virgin Nigeria nominated for 2006 African Airline of the year, Association of South African Travel Agents website, retrieved 27 March 2007
4. ^ Virgin Nigeria buys bevy of Embraer regional jets: AINonline
5. ^ Nigeria Direct 2 May 2007
6. ^ Virgin in talks to sell out of Nigeria
7. ^ Flights Have Now Finished
8. ^ Virgin Nigeria Rebrand As Nigerian Eagle Airlines
9. ^ Nigerian Eagle Airlines Rebranda As Air Nigeria
10. ^ Nigerian Eagle Airlines signs Codeshare with Kenya Airways
11. ^ Nigerian Eagle Signs Code-share Deal with Delta
12. ^ Delta Starts Codeshare Flights with Air Nigeria
13. ^ Air Nigeria Fleet
14. ^ Virgin Nigeria Past Fleet

External links

	Nigeria portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

• Official website