Virgin Atlantic airlines has announced the resumption of international flight operations into Nigeria.
Resumption date is set for the 24th of August, 2020. This comes after a 5-month flight ban due to restriction orders by the Nigerian government in the wake of the #COVID19 pandemic.
The airline says it plans to make a grand re-entry into the country’s skylines with its new A350-1000 aircraft on the London Heathrow / Lagos route. There will also be flight connections to a number of US destinations.
A statement released by the airline says:
“We are also delighted to announce that when we return to Lagos, we will be doing so on our new A350-1000 aircraft which is packed with innovation, thoughtful features, an unmistakable Virgin Atlantic flair. From our new enhanced social space to extra storage, and our latest entertainment system, there is so much to look forward to.”
The airline gave hints about measures that will be taken at airports to ensure that the health and safety of its passengers are not compromised.
Nigeria Shuts Down International Airports, Local Transport Systems
In total, Virgin Atlantic plans to return to 17 additional destinations across the world including Barbados, San Francisco, Tel Aviv and Miami.
It also plans to resume passenger flights to New York, Hong Kong, JFK, Los Angeles and London Heathrow effective 20th and 21st of July.
Returning to the listed routes is however, subject to the relevant countries’ travel restrictions.
Speaking on the planned resumption of operations, the Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, Juha Jarvinen said that:
“As countries around the world begin to relax travel restrictions, we look forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to many destinations across our network
“However, we are monitoring external conditions extremely closely, in particular the travel restrictions many countries have in place including the 14-day quarantine policy for travellers entering the UK.
We know that as the COVID19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery. Therefore, we are calling for UK Government to continually review its quarantine measures and instead look at a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, including air bridges, which will support a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”