United Airlines to commence Lagos-Washington D.C flight Nov. 29
By Tobi Adetunji
United is to operate the first ever nonstop flight between Washington, D.C. and Lagos and offer more flights between D.C. and Africa than any other carrier.
United Airlines disclosed this in a statement a copy of which was made available to Nigerian NewsDirect. According to this release, the new service between Washington, D.C. and Lagos, Nigeria will begin November 29 this year.
The airline will operate three weekly flights connecting the U.S. capital to Nigeria’s largest city, which is also the top Western African destination for U.S-based travelers. Tickets will be available for sale on united.com and the united app this weekend.
“This new flight to Lagos has been highly anticipated by our customers and offers the first ever nonstop service between Washington, D.C. and Nigeria, as well as convenient, one-stop connections to over 80 destinations throughout the Americas including Houston and Chicago,” said Patrick Quayle, United’s vice president of international network and alliances.
“On behalf of all of United we’d like to offer our sincere thanks to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and U.S. Department of Transportation for supporting our plans to provide this service.”
“We are honoured to work with our partners at United Airlines to welcome their second nonstop connection from Dulles International to the African continent,” said Carl Schultz, acting Vice President of airline business development at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
“Lagos joins nearly 50 other nonstop international destinations currently served by the National Capital Region’s gateway to the world.”
United will operate this route with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 28 United Polaris® business class lie-flat seats, 21 United Premium Plus® premium economy seats, 36 Economy Plus seats and 158 standard economy seats. This flight is the only service between the U.S. and Nigeria to offer premium economy product. Flights will depart Washington, D.C. on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and return from Lagos on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.
This new flight builds on United’s expansion into Africa and solidifies United’s leadership position to Africa from the D.C. metro area, with more flights to the continent than any other airline. Just this year, United launched new service between New York/Newark and Johannesburg, South Africa and between Washington, D.C. and Accra, Ghana. And this December and January, United will increase its service to Accra from three weekly flights to daily as customers travel home for the winter holidays. United is also returning its popular service between New York/Newark and Cape Town, South Africa on December 1.
United’s new flights comply with each country’s COVID-19 protocols and customers should check destination requirements before traveling.
United is the only U.S. airline to offer its own one-stop-shop where customers can conveniently get “travel-ready” by finding a location to schedule a COVID-19 test as well as upload and store their test results and vaccination records directly through the airline’s website and award-winning mobile app with the Travel-Ready Center.
The delay in the delivery of the terminal to the planned concession of the airport as the government has set in motion machinery to concession the four aforementioned terminals.
The source said the same fate could befall the Kano terminal as both ought to have been commissioned since.
“What is happening is that the contractor is apprehensive about the status of the terminal after the concession. The concern is about how they will recoup their investment after the airport has been concessioned and this is one of the major reasons why the project has been delayed,” the source said.
It was further gathered that the CCECC had sought an audience with the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, to get more details on the planned concession and how it affects the project.
Also, the spokesman of the Ministry of Aviation, Mr James Odaudu, simply said, “No, I am not aware,” in response to the concern raised by the contractor.
It would be recalled that the federal government in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document made available to journalists on the concession said there is no conflict with the China Exim Bank over the concession.
The document said, “China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC) was contracted to deliver a number of infrastructure projects throughout Nigeria in 2013. The Passenger Terminal development works are a small part of this, and the federal government has every intention to service its obligation.”
