04 June 08

VIRGIN NIGERIA LAUNCHES FLIGHT SERVICE TO BENIN CITY

Lagos Nigeria, 4th June 2008: Virgin Nigeria will on Wednesday, June 4 2008 commence flight operations from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos to the ancient city of Benin in continuation of its drive to connect every major city on its growing route network.

Virgin Nigeria is scheduled to operate into Benin City seven days a week at inauguration of the service and thereafter increase the frequency to 13 times a week from June 23, 2008.

“We are constantly reviewing our operations and our decision to commence operations into Benin City is hinged on our desire to offer passengers in Benin City access to Virgin Nigeria’s onward connections to regional and international destinations”, Conrad stated.

Virgin Nigeria currently operates from its hub in Lagos to various destinations; 2 international destinations-London and Johannesburg, 4 regional destinations; Accra, Douala, Dakar and Cotonou. Benin would be the 11th domestic destination flown into by Virgin Nigeria. The other domestic destinations are Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Kano, Sokoto, Owerri, Calabar and Warri



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 the customer to book from anywhere in world, as well as make payments with an interswitch debit 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 recently announced an order for 24 Embraer aircraft. The order consists of E170s and E190s jets. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for September 2008.

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.

For more information, visit www.virginnigeria.com