Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Arik Air begins flight to Libreville, Gabon – Chief Commercial Officer

By NAN
14 February 2016   |   2:47 pm
West and Central Africa largest carrier, Arik Air, has responded to the yearnings of Nigerians living in Gabon by introducing Lagos to Libreville flight, en route Port Harcourt.
Arik Air. Photo: businessnews

Arik Air. Photo: businessnews

West and Central Africa largest carrier, Arik Air, has responded to the yearnings of Nigerians living in Gabon by introducing Lagos to Libreville flight, en route Port Harcourt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the maiden flight took place over the weekend from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Speaking at the ceremony, Arik Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Suraj Sundaram, explained that there had not been any direct flight between Nigeria and Gabon for so many years.

Sundaram noted that direct flight connection between the two countries was important because it would increase trade ties.

A lot of Nigerians from the South-East travel to Libreville on regular basis and we also have corporations that are dominant in Nigeria which transact business in Gabon because both are oil producing countries.

So, there is a lot of traffic between the two points. It is in the interest of the two countries that there should be direct flight services,’’ he said.

He also explained how Arik Air intended to operate the new route, where it had deployed the newest aircraft in its fleet.We start every route like we have done for West Africa.

We started all routes with three frequencies a week, slowly expanding it based on demand, we move to five frequencies, then daily frequencies.Again, based on demand, some markets are serviced two or three times a day like Lagos-Accra, Ghana.

So, these are plans we have laid over the past 10 years and we continue to do so with route expansion and aircraft acquisition to expand into more and more destinations globally, including the African continent,’’ Sundaram added.

According to him, Arik Air has planned the flight in such a way that there is a late evening departure from Lagos which will enable all domestic flights to come into Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt to make the necessary connections.

For example, because of our evening departure from Lagos, passengers from other domestic flights can come to Lagos to meet this flight.

If you are based in Abuja, you can also go directly to Port Harcourt because this flight goes from Lagos en route Port Harcourt to Libreville.“So, you can go from Abuja to Port Harcourt and connect the flight there.

Also, you have choices both ways. You also arrive from Gabon to Nigeria in the morning.We are able to make connection in the West Coast and in the domestic flights; so anybody can come to Nigeria from Gabon and connect your flight to other destinations,’’ he said.

In his speech, the Gabonese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Corentine Hervo-Akendengue, hailed the airline’s decision to extend its operations to the Central African nation.

He said Arik Air’s great vision to connect West African nations and open the route between Nigeria and Gabon would improve bilateral relations and boost commerce between the two countries.

On his part, the Nigerian Ambassador to Gabon, Mr Bassey Archibong, said the decision to operate to Gabon from Nigeria by Arik was what thousands of Nigerians living in the country had been yearning for. (NA

0 Comments