Virgin Nigeria Airline said on Thursday that it had entered into a code share agreement with North American Airlines, to signal its early resumption of direct flights to the United States.
Redefined competition -a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 4Q8
A code-share is an arrangement whereby an airline sells seats under its own name, on another carrier�s flight.
Under a code-sharing agreement, participating airlines can present a common flight number for several reasons, including connecting flights.
Spokesman for the airline, Larry Agose, gave this indication at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority in Lagos, shortly after meeting the Director-General of the agency, Dr. Harold Demuren.
Agose stated that with the sealed agreement , the airline would begin operations to New York in September this year.
�Everything has been perfected to make sure that the carrier begins direct flights to New York, the route the Federal Government has designated it,� he added.
Nigerian carriers like Virgin Nigeria, Arik and Bellview Airlines, cannot operate to the US, with their own equipment until the completion of the auditing of the carriers and the NCAA by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
The American aviation regulatory body is yet to conclude its assessments for granting Nigeria and the carriers� Category One status.