Virgin Atlantic to launch Nigerian airline

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2004

ABUJA (AFP) — Virgin Atlantic said it would launch a new airline in Nigeria in which it will take a 49 percent stake.

The airline, to be called Virgin Nigeria, will be owned 51 percent by Nigerian institutional investors, Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.

The airline, which would come into commercial operation early next year, according to officials, is expected to recruit several thousand people in Nigeria within a few years.

It will be based in Lagos and aims to launch services in early 2005.

Planned destinations include domestic airports in Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, as well as regional cities such as Abidjan, Accra and Dakar, and international destinations in the Middle East, United States and Europe.

Some of the routes are Dubai,...