Lagos-London, Lagos- Johannesburg flights to be suspended, says Virgin Nigeria

Virgin Nigeria Airways, Nigeria’s flag-carrier airline, has decided to suspend its long-haul flights from Lagos to London’s London Gatwick airport and to Johannesburg in South Africa from January 27, 2009.

In a statement, Virgin Nigeria said: “The suspension of our long-haul flights to London and Johannesburg is to enable us to review our entire long-haul operations, including our product offerings on these routes. During the review, the airline will focus on profitable domestic and regional flight operations and afterwards it plans to return to long-haul routes.”

However, Nigerian media speculated that the airline’s move was prompted by mounting debts, higher operating costs and growing competition on the loss-making Lagos to London and Lagos to Johannesburg routes.

Virgin Nigeria’s routes to destinations within Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, and to neighbouring countries in West Africa are quite profitable. And, the airline has bought many new Embraer aircraft to expand services on these routes.

The suspension of the Lagos-London and the Lagos-Johannesburg flights will take effect from January 27, 2009, and passengers booked on these flights after that date would be transferred to other carriers.

Virgin Nigeria Airways Limited, based in Ikeja in Lagos state, Nigeria, was set up in October 2004 and became operational in June 2005. It is a joint venture of Nigerian institutional investors (51%) and British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic (49%). Virgin Nigeria operates international, regional and domestic passenger services from its hub at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.

The only long-haul destinations of Virgin Nigeria are London in the United Kingdom and Johannesburg in South Africa.

On the Lagos-London route, Virgin Nigeria’ main competitors are British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Arik Air, a Nigeria-based private carrier.

The main competitor of Virgin Nigeria on the Johannesburg route is South African Airways, South Africa’s flag carrier and the country’s biggest domestic and international airline.

On the regional level, Virgin Nigeria’s main routes are Abidjan, Accra, Dakar, Cotonou, Douala, Libreville and Monrovia.

According to media reports, Virgin Atlantic had hinted in late 2008 that it wanted to dispose of its stake in Virgin Nigeria.

The reports also quoted aviation industry analysts as saying that the United Bank for Africa, one of Virgin Nigeria’s main financial supporters, had been pressuring the airline to restructure and reduce losses on the competitive Lagos-London and Lagos-Johannesburg routes.