With the introduction of the promotional offer, eagleflier members who quote their frequent flyer number at the point of online reservation will accrue additional bonus miles when they conclude the booking, and make the payment online. These miles can be redeemed for reward tickets, flight upgrades to business class, payment for excess baggage and other benefits.

Announcing the special offer for the airline’s loyal passengers, the Head of Marketing, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Aiyepeku said the promotion seeks to reward customer patronage, especially patronage from our loyal eagleflier members and also encourage non members to come experience the many exciting rewards of flying consistently with Air Nigeria.

“Air Nigeria is a responsive airline that is continually seeking ways of improving travel convenience by aligning its systems with modern practices. Our discerning passengers have the added advantage of making their secure transactions online on our website at their convenience as well as being rewarded when they do so”, said Mrs. Aiyepeku.

She noted further that passengers who are yet to be enrolled as eagleflier members can benefit from the ongoing promotion by picking up membership forms and filing out the required information at any of the airline’s ticketing offices, onboard any Air Nigeria flight across its route network or enrolling on the Air Nigeria website.

The promotion is slated to run for 3 months from the 19^th of July to end on the 19^th of October 2010

eagleflier is the registered trademark of Air Nigeria’s frequent flyer programme and has, since its launch in November 2006,  received tremendous patronage from Nigerian and International travellers.  Many passengers over the year have benefited from reward tickets, flight upgrades and many other benefits of the programme.

It will be noted that following the recent acquisition of the airline by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, Air Nigeria has received a new lease of life as it has acquired additional 2 Boeing 737-300 and also re-launched flight operations to Benin and Owerri on the domestic routes as well as increasing frequencies on its entire route network. Indeed, Air Nigeria is positioned to effectively meet and exceed the expectations of its esteemed customers.

Mr. Chris Ndulue, Acting Managing Director, Arik Air

Arik Air, Nigeria’s leading commercial airline has introduced its new Airbus A330-200 aircraft onto its daily Lagos-Johannesburg route commencing on 23rd July, replacing the Boeing B737-800 aircraft hitherto flying between the two cities.

The A330-200 is a two-engine aircraft and an environmentally-friendly product for the mid-range Lagos-Johannesburg route.  It is a two class configuration providing 24 Premium Business Class seats, with an impressive 62 inch seat pitch and seat width of 21 inches, and 259 Economy Class seats with extra wide seat width of 19 inches, each with individual seat back 9 inch screens offering the very best in-flight facilities, providing guests with maximum comfort and style.

The Premium Business Class product has a complementary offering designed to meet the discerning business traveller’s needs including an angled lie flat seat, a personal 10.6 inch armrest monitor, a USB port for charging personal devices and the very latest in-flight entertainment technology installed.

Arik Air also offers a complete Nigerian on-board experience with a blend of colloquial Nigerian food serving traditional dishes such as hot pepper soup as well as international cuisine.

Guests will also continue to be afforded the most generous baggage allowance in the industry –

three 30kgs bags in Premier Class and two 30kgs in Economy Class.

Commenting on the A330’s introduction, Arik Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Suraj Sundaram said:

“We are really pleased to be introducing the A330 onto what is an important and valued route for Arik Air. Last year we pledged our intention to provide guests with this wide bodied product – by far the most appropriate for the route – and we have delivered it. The short-term measure we secured in the form of a brand new, top-of its class Boeing 737-800 has served well in the interim, and we are confident that all of our loyal guests will agree that this much enhanced aircraft has been worth waiting for.

“We understand and have reacted to the demand in this market for a new Business and Economy Class product on this under-served route and this A330 offers everything to meet those requirements, whether they are a regular business traveller or visiting friends or relatives. Arik Air is synonymous with offering a truly unique African hospitality and world class experience, from the cuisine to the in-flight products on offer.

“We’re very excited to welcome this addition to the Arik fleet. The aircraft has passed all regulatory requirements and is in pristine condition. I am confident that it will be received as our A340-500 aircraft operating to London Heathrow and New York JFK.”

Arik Air is Nigeria’s leading commercial airline. It now operates a fleet of 26 state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircraft. The airline currently serves 22 airports across Nigeria as well as Accra (Ghana), Banjul (Gambia), Cotonou (Benin), Dakar (Senegal), Freetown (Sierra Leone), London Heathrow (UK), Johannesburg (South Africa) and New York JFK (USA).

The airline currently operates over 120 flights daily from its hubs in Lagos and Abuja.

Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kinfe Kahssaye explained that the proposed launch of the Brazzaville route is in line with the new vision of the airline to systematically build strong economic ties amongst African nations through expanding trade frontiers.

He noted that the airline would commence daily flights from the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos to Maya-Maya Airport in Brazzaville with an introductory fare of $500 which will come into effect at inauguration of the flight operations.

“Our regional operation is hinged on fostering and promoting existing economic and socio-cultural ties in Africa, especially by providing world class airline travel experience for passengers”, said Mr. Kahssaye, while adding that the airline will offer passengers’ value-for-money as it will continually deliver superior customer service at par with globally acceptable standards.

Chairman of Air Nigeria, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, in a message of goodwill said: “the proposed entry of Air Nigeria to Congo Brazzaville on the regional route as well as the re-launch of its flight services to both Benin and Owerri, is a momentous first step towards achieving the airline’s goal of creating a new era of air travel in Nigeria and indeed the entire African continent and beyond.

Air Nigeria currently operates flights from its hub in Lagos to Benin City, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Sokoto on the domestic routes while it operates to Accra, Ghana; Cotonou, Benin Republic; Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dakar, Senegal; Banjul, Gambia; Monrovia, Liberia; Douala, Cameroon and Libreville, Gabon on the regional routes.

Chief Executive Officer of Air Nigeria, Mr. Kinfe Kahssaye stated that in line with the vision of the airline, the newly appointed personnel have the mandate to raise and sustain the quality of service of the airline in strict adherence to globally acceptable standards, while also noting that, their elevation is a landmark development in the airline’s succession plan especially as they have excelled in their different professional pursuits.

Kahssaye said: “We are consistently reviewing our operations with a view to upgrading our standards in the industry and we can only achieve this by ensuring highly qualified personnel occupy and manage our operations in line with global best practices especially as the airline has consistently maintained and operated in line with acceptable civil aviation regulations”.

Speaking further, Kahssaye said: “the new personnel are bringing aboard, wealth of experience having managed similar responsibilities for several years in the aviation sector, as well as hands-on involvement in the day to day procedural management of Air Nigeria’s safety standards in line with best practices since inception.

Engineer Christopher Kwasau takes over as Director of Engineering & Maintenance (Ag.) from the erstwhile Director of Engineering, Mr. Richard Murphy who is leaving the airline following the expiration of his contract while Mrs Temitope Fagbemi assumes the role of Head, Human Resources (Ag.) following the existing vacancy in the department.

Prior to Christopher Kwassau’s appointment as the Director of Engineering & Maintenance (Ag.), he was the Technical Services and Planning Manager of Air Nigeria with responsibility for key maintenance planning and engineering tasks.

Before joining Air Nigeria, then Virgin Nigeria in 2005, he was the Director of Engineering and Technical Services of Nigeria Airways having started his aviation career with the airline in 1981.

Mrs Temitope Fagbemi who comes with a wealth of expertise in human resource management, will implement organisational development strategies to ensure the successful execution of the airline’s current expansion plans.

Mr. Chris Ndulue, Acting Managing Director, Arik Air

Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest commercial airline today announced the arrival of two of its four aircraft that went on mandatory C-check and structural repairs in Southend, London and Malta respectively.

The airline’s Boeing 737-700 NG with registration number 5N-MJD which had a lightning strike on June 28, 2010 and was sent to Malta on July 5, 2010, arrived Arik Air’s hangar at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Friday, July 9, 2010 while another Boeing 737-700 (5N-MJK) which went for the mandatory C-check in Southend, London arrived in Lagos on Monday, July 12, 2010.

Two other Boeing 737-700 are still in Malta and Southend. One of them, 5N-MJH, which also had a lightning strike on June 27, 2010, was ferried to Malta on July 2, 2010. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Lagos after the structural repairs on Thursday, July 15, 2010. The fourth aircraft, a Boeing 737-700 with registration number 5N-MJI is also undergoing the mandatory C-check in Southend and is due back before the end of July.

Announcing the arrival of two of the aircraft in Lagos, Arik Air’s Deputy Executive Vice President, Mr. Chris Ndulue said the airline’s operations would get a further boost with the coming of the aircraft from their various checks.

“We have had a couple of disruptions to our operations in the last few days because we don’t have the full complement of our fleet. With our over 120 daily flights, it will be difficult not to feel the impact of the absence of four aircraft at a time,” Mr. Ndulue said. “We apologise to our valued guests who may have had issues with our services in the last few days. We remain committed to our mission of providing a safe and reliable airline.”

Arik Air’s Vice President, Technical, Mr. Rob Thomas elaborated: “At Arik Air, safety is our primary concern. This is why, with the approval of EASA and NCAA, Arik Air contracted a highly qualified maintenance provider – Lufthansa Technik of Germany whose engineers conduct regular and routine aircraft fleet maintenance and routing checks. For other maintenance such as C-check/D-check, we ferry our aircraft to Lufthansa maintenance hangar in Cologne, Germany; Malta and Southend, London.”

Arik Air is Nigeria’s leading commercial airline. It now operates a fleet of 26 state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircraft. The airline currently serves 21 airports across Nigeria as well as Accra (Ghana), Banjul (Gambia), Cotonou (Benin), Dakar (Senegal), Freetown (Sierra Leone), London Heathrow (UK), Johannesburg (South Africa) and New York JFK (USA).

The airline currently operates over 120 flights daily from its hubs in Lagos and Abuja.

Members of Lekki Junior Strikers football team at the Fun Turf, Lekki Phase One after the charity match to raise funds for less privilleged children on Saturday, July 10, 2010

Award-winning airline, Dana Air and Lekki Strikers, a football team comprising residents of Lekki peninsula and environs, teamed up to host a football match to raise funds for orphans and vulnerable children on Saturday, July 10, 2010 at the Fun Turf in Lekki, Lagos.

The event began at about 9am with an exhibition match involving the Lekki Senior Strikers. This set the mood for the Junior Strikers, who are aged between 5 and 10 years, as they took on Joshua United – another junior team from the Lekki Peninsula. The second match of the day involved the children from Arrows of God orphanage and Joshua United. Both Matches ended in a 1 – 1 draw.

Commenting on the initiative, Kemi Oduntan, mother to one of the Junior Strikers and a member of the event planning committee said, “It is very interesting to note that there are a lot of young people in the community who are very gifted in sports, especially football. With the encouragement and support of all the parents, the children have been playing together for quite some time. However, this time, they are playing not just for recreation but for charity, and that is very gratifying.”

On his part, Jacky Hathiramani, Chief Executive Officer of Dana Air congratulated the Lekki Strikers for the initiative. He said, “Dana Group has always been a firm supporter of sporting events in Nigeria and we are happy to support Lekki Strikers in their effort to develop young football talents as well as raise funds for the less privileged in the society.”

At the end of the event, gift items were presented to the children and cash donations were made to three (3) orphanages namely; Motherless Babies Home, Lekki, Arrows of God Orphanage, Ajah and Living Fountain Orphanage, Victoria Island, Lagos. A subsidiary of Dana Group of Companies, Dana Air is Nigeria’s first new premium services at an affordable rate.

While announcing the delivery of the aircraft in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kinfe Kahssaye said that the arrival of the aircraft will boost Air Nigeria’s capacity on both domestic and the regional routes especially as additional new routes are being introduced to expand our network coverage.

“We are committed to our ambition of becoming a dominant airline by increasing our fleet size significantly in order to be able to bring travel convenience to our teeming passengers. The arrival of this additional aircraft to our fleet is a demonstration of the commitment of our Chairman, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, to build a credible airline for Nigerians,” says Mr. Kahssaye.

While noting that the airline fully appreciates growing customer demands for it to open more domestic and regional routes, Mr. Kinfe reiterated that Air Nigeria is committed to maintaining global best practices in the aviation industry as well as passenger safety and comfort.

It will be recalled that following the recent acquisition of the airline by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, Air Nigeria hitherto known as Virgin Nigeria, has been positively turned around and has been meeting its financial obligations to both creditors and vendors. Also, the airline just last week resumed flight operations to Benin City while Owerri will be reintroduced later on in July even as it is set to open up additional regional and domestic routes on its network.

Announcing the commencement of ticket sales at the NICON Luxury CTO, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Nigeria, Mr. Kinfe Kahssaye said that the airline is reappraising its entire operations towards bringing air travel convenience to the doorsteps of its numerous customers. He noted that the location of the CTO just like the others in Abuja, will offer a one-stop solution to passengers as they can access variety of travel options that supports their individual needs especially in the area of making reservations.

“The proximity of the NICON Luxury CTO to the city centre will significantly curtail long travels as the ticketing office has the wherewithal to provide quick, simple and courteous services to intending passengers of Air Nigeria”, Mr. Kahssaye said, while also noting that the recent acquisition of the airline by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim has opened up new opportunities for the carrier as it is receiving tremendous cooperation from the NICON Group in its quest to improve its distribution network.

With the relocation of the City Ticketing Office to Nicon Luxury, Air Nigeria currently has three functional ticketing offices in Abuja to support the sales point at the airport in bringing convenience to the doorstep of her discerning passengers.

The NICON Luxury CTO opens for business at 8am and closes at 6pm on normal working days while passengers can equally assess its full service in regards to reservation, ticketing, name and date changes on Saturdays as from 9am till 5pm.

Air Nigeria is scheduled to operate daily flights to Benin City and Owerri and will also be launching introductory attractive fares discounted with as much as 50 per cent.

Announcing the scheduled recommencement of flight operations to both Benin City and Owerri, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kinfe Kahassaye, noted that the objective of the new board of the airline is to fully integrate most major cities in Nigeria into its route network especially now that the airline has the capacity to boost seamless travel of passengers across major cities in the country.

“With the recommencement of our flight operations into Benin City and Owerri, passengers in both cities and neighboring towns will have access to Air Nigeria’s onward connections to other domestic routes as well as its established regional route network”, Mr. Kahssaye said.

While noting that Air Nigeria is set to double its fleet size by acquiring five additional aircraft, Mr. Kahssaye said that the entire operations of the airline is currently undergoing a thorough re-engineering and review process which will ultimately guide the airline in introducing next generation fleet of aircraft.

Chairman of Air Nigeria Development Limited, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim while unveiling the new brand name of the airline at a recent briefing, had noted that the company will be turned around in the shortest possible time even as its identity reflects the rich cultural heritage and integrity of Nigeria.

While guaranteeing that the airline is built on the principle of loyalty and customers’ confidence, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim noted that Air Nigeria had placed firm orders for five additional aircraft to join the fleet and by October 2010, the airline will boast of a minimum of 10 aircraft in its fleet.

Also, Air Nigeria has taken delivery of the first branded aircraft bearing the new airline’s livery and logo while other aircraft in the fleet are scheduled to be branded in the days ahead.

Mr. Chris Ndulue, Acting Managing Director, Arik Air

Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest commercial airline, has taken delivery of its third wide-body aircraft, an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, thus increasing its fleet to 26.

The brand new aircraft, the first of two A330-200 ordered by Arik Air, arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, June 11, 2010 direct from France. The aircraft, with registration 5N-EIA, is the first wide-body aircraft of Arik Air to carry Nigerian registration.

Announcing the arrival of the new A330-200, Arik Air’s Deputy Executive Vice President, Mr. Chris Ndulue, said the aircraft is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW 4168A engines and will offer the best possible passenger comfort in a two-class configuration.

He explained: “Our new Airbus A330-200 is the first of the two aircraft ordered by the airline and the third wide-body aircraft in our fleet. We already have two Airbus A340-500 ultra range aircraft delivered in December 2008 and May 2009.”

The new A330-200 aircraft is configured to carry 283 passengers in a two-class arrangement. Arik Air’s Senior Vice President, Commercial, Mr Suraj Sundaram explained that the airline’s brand new Airbus 330-200 aircraft, christened ‘Sultan of Sokoto’, would offer Premier Class and Economy Class. “Premier Class will have 24 seats arranged in a 2-2-2 layout, providing easy aisle access from every seat. Each seat comes equipped with a personal audio and video on-demand entertainment system enabling each guest to enjoy his or her favourite Hollywood and Nollywood movies. All seats come fitted with a laptop plug-in socket.”

The spacious and airy Economy Class cabin will have 259 seats arranged in a comfortable 2-4-2 across seat layout. Economy Class will offer a seat-back personal audio and video on-demand entertainment system. Both cabins on board the brand new Airbus 330-200 aircraft will feature relaxing mood lighting.

Mr. Sundaram disclosed that the new aircraft will be deployed on the Lagos-Johannesburg route to replace the Boeing 737-800 currently in use on the route.

The twin-engine and fuel-efficient Airbus 330-200 is one of the quietest and most environmentally friendly aircraft operating in the world today. It complies fully with airport noise restrictions and with current and future international emissions standards.

Arik Air is Nigeria’s leading commercial airline. It now operates a fleet of 26 state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircraft. The airline currently serves 21 airports across Nigeria as well as Accra (Ghana), Banjul (Gambia), Cotonou (Benin), Dakar (Senegal), Freetown (Sierra Leone), London Heathrow (UK), Johannesburg (South Africa) and New York JFK (USA).

The airline currently operates over 130 flights daily from its hubs in Lagos and Abuja.