Two local airlines, Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria, will start flying directly to the United States of America in 2008.
Harold Demurin, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), told journalists yesterday that the US Federal Aviation Administr-ation (FAA) has granted waiver to the domestic airlines.
He disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
He said Arik, Virgin Nigeria and Bellview airlines, which was earlier designated for the route, had almost completed all the requirements to lease aircraft from an American-recognised Category One country and with the acquired aircraft they would be able to start operations to the United States.
“They must get an aircraft from a country that is already Category One. So that�s what they are doing right now and I believe that Arik has already given a name of the airline it will use, I believe Bellview has done the same and also Virgin Nigeria,� he said.
“You know they have already missed the busy Christmas rush. I will expect that they will be waiting for the summer peak period to start. So I believe we are right on course, making progress. At the same time, NCAA will get Category One for Nigeria, so 2008 will be very interesting, with a lot of activities,� the NCAA boss added
He said one of the greatest achievements recorded this year in the aviation sector is the influx of new generation aircraft into the country and promised to get the much talked-about Category One status for the country from the FAA next year.
North American Airlines currently flies direct to New York while Delta Airlines, which recently began operations in Nigeria, flies direct to Atlanta, Georgia with a plan to also fly directly to New York from June 2008.
The destinations of Arik and Virgin Nigeria were however not revealed by Demurin.
Arik started operations last year while Virgin Nigeria is a little over two years old.
There had been a controversy over Virgin Nigeria�s direct flight to the US following objections from the American aviation authorities.
Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, had been accused by the US of working against the granting of more frequencies for American airlines to the United Kingdom. Virgin Nigeria was taken as part of his group and was subsequently treated by the Americans as a backdoor strategy by Branson to increase Virgin�s frequencies to the United States.
Virgin Nigeria had always insisted that it is a Nigerian, and not a British airline and was only in technical and branding partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airlines.
This controversy may have been resolved, following the positive signals from the US aviation authorities.
Also yesterday, Demuren criticised the obsolete conveyor belt at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport which tends to break down too often, thereby frustrating passengers upon their arrival. They usually have to wait for hours on end before collecting their luggage.
He explained that the poor performance of the conveyor belt was due to its old age, but added that efforts were being made to expand the international airport and put modern facilities there for the comfort of passengers.
Dec212007