NIGERIA’S ARIK AIR has recommenced flights between London Heathrow and Abuja, since December flying daily between the two capitals using a B737-800 aircraft in a two-class configuration (16 in business, 126 in economy).
The airline had discontinued its five-times-weekly Abuja-London service in October 2010 without giving a reason, after serving the route since 2009.
Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, Arik Air’s CEO, thanked the British and Nigerian governments for “coming to agreeable terms which increases the capacity in to and out of Nigeria”.
December also saw Arik launch the Savannah Express – twice-weekly, two-class regional services linking Senegal capital Dakar to three destinations: Benin’s largest city Cotonou; Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou; and Bamako, the capital of Mali. In the same month the airline started twice weekly flights between Lagos and Angolan capital Luanda, which Arumemi-Ikhide described as a strategically important destination for the oil and gas industry.
“These routes mark the end to years of limited air links between Nigeria and the respective countries,” he said. “They comes at a time when the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] is seeking closer relations among countries in the region.”
Arik Air also flies daily between Heathrow and Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.