*Etihad Begins Flight To Nigeria

By Nosa Osula-Aituamen

Etihad Airways has started its six flights a week service between the airline’s Abu Dhabi home-base and the Nigerian city, Lagos.

To celebrate the new service, and Nigeria’s love of football, Etihad Airways operated its iconic sky-blue A330-200 aircraft, painted in Manchester City Football Club’s famous colours, for the launch flight.

The “Blue Moon Rising” aircraft was greeted by a traditional water canon salute on arrival in Lagos at the city’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

The Etihad Airways delegation was met by H.E. Ibrahim Auwalu, Nigerian Ambassador to the UAE, H.E. Rashed Naser Musabbah Al Dhaheri, the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, and senior officials from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. ( Continues below..... )
Photo Above: Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Nigeria.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are delighted to launch Etihad Airways flights to Lagos and our first passenger destination in West Africa. This is a momentous occasion in Etihad Airways history as we expand our flight network in Africa and increase ties between the UAE and Nigeria.”

During the visit to Lagos senior Etihad Airways executives will meet government officials and local tourism representatives as well as host an evening reception to celebrate the new flights.

The six flights per week Lagos will be operated by an A330-200 aircraft, configured to carry 22 passengers in Pearl Business class and 240 passengers Coral Economy class.

The service is Etihad Airways builds on the airline’s existing flights to Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Nairobi and Tripoli. ( Continues below..... ) Photo Above: An Airborne Plane

Etihad Airways is lead sponsor of Manchester City Football Club. The “Blue Moon Rising” aircraft was unveiled in 2011 and is one of the many elements of Etihad Airways’ sponsorship of the English Premier League club.

The Etihad Airways logo has been on the Manchester City shirt since 2009 and the airline became naming sponsor of the club’s Etihad Stadium and Campus in August 2011.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in 2003, and in 2011 carried 8.3 million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad Airways serves 87 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, with a fleet of 66 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Etihad Airways also holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus. For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com.

source http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/paperfrmes.html

Nice one.

I luv Etihad

will be using their services this summer.. hope they will be better than

qatar and emirates. although i am not trilled with the aircraft. A330-200.

NO in seat computer plug etc

Welcomed development

its high time one of these UAE carriers fly direct to Abuja.

How much from Abu Dhabi to Lagos?

blackeli: its high time one of these UAE carriers fly direct to Abuja.

It depends on the volume of Abuja passengers.

This will greatly increase the followership or fans of Manchester City Football club.

problem is most people will prefer to land in dubai not abudhabi

Abuja does not have large volume of passengers to fill airbus like the type we have in lagos. The last time i flew Ethiopian airline, it had to fly to Accra Ghana to get more passengers before proceeding to Dubai via Adis-Ababa.

I used ethiad to dubai last week n twas realy nice.was in d same flight wit kolo toure sef.they have computer in plugs ooo n they r so organised.though we stopped @ abu dabhi but their buses took us to dubai within 1hr 20 mins.so nice

Pls....abeg.....who knows hw much it cost to fly from enugu to lagos.....using ARIK?

Flew Rwandair to Dubai. It was cheap (115,000naira), but poor service. How much is Etihad?
On a side note
" Kigali airport better than murtala airport." what's wrong with FAAN? "
" young 9ja girl running prostitution rings in Deira. Mid-west madams at it again.. Damn bytches!"
" WARNING! security job sucks in UAE. Don't be deceived, pay is only 300$ (1100AED)+cramped dormitory+ molue transport"

I think they will win over many existing Dubai passengers, their in-flight service was good with lot of in-flight entertainments. Their food was'nt bad either. I think with time they will become toast of UAE and Asia travellers.

We need more local airlines within Nigeria states with standard aircrafts. it will be of great benefits than all these international ones to average Nigerians flighing Lagos, kano, abuja etc

kitty kat: I luv Etihad

What do you luv bout Etihad?

its really informative and is all about business kind kind of instructions here to shows the importance of it to get success in very short time and make your name in the famous personality all over the world..well thanks for share it to me
Halo

manosteel: Abuja does not have large volume of passengers to fill airbus like the type we have in lagos. The last time i flew Ethiopian airline, it had to fly to Accra Ghana to get more passengers before proceeding to Dubai via Adis-Ababa.

I disagree with u on this.The truth is that some of these airlines have not been giving landing rights in Abuja.This is strategic as it would compel passengers to fly to lagos in order to patronize local flights.Lagos-Abuj is a busy route that the local flight business owners dont want to lose.So many passengers from Abuja to Dubai prefere to fly Emirates and may be Etihad will be another choice now..they will have to go to lagos or use Ethiopian airline whose services are shaby most of the time.

if etihad flew abudhabi to Abuja, it would knock off a lot of business from egypt air and ethiopean air, and make them seat up. plenty people fly to lagos just to fly emirates cos of superior service.

Nice development.
But when will Nigeria have its own airline that will be the pride of nigerians, instead of giving business to foreign enterprises.
The Federal government could earn lots of revenue by making MMIA a regional hub.

good

Wow!! No more layover at doha for a connecting flight to abu dhabi..

Can anyone verify if etihad airways would be operating any services from manchester straight to lagos as that would only make sense since their club manchester city is based in here manchester and there are loads of nigerians in manchester who are tired of travelling via amsterdam or france before reconnecting a flight to lagos or even going all the way to london just to get a direct flight.

elliot777: Can anyone verify if etihad airways would be operating any services from manchester straight to lagos as that would only make sense since their club manchester city is based in here manchester and there are loads of nigerians in manchester who are tired of travelling via amsterdam or france before reconnecting a flight to lagos or even going all the way to london just to get a direct flight.

The airline industry doesn't work like that my friend. They've got business to do, hence everybody must fly through Abu Dhabi- that is their hub!

Good news Ethiad is on Naija route..buh they still have to do so much to rival Emirates...Ek is still the market leader anyday....

stesia22cute: I used ethiad to dubai last week n twas realy nice.was in d same flight wit kolo toure sef.they have computer in plugs ooo n they r so organised.though we stopped @ abu dabhi but their buses took us to dubai within 1hr 20 mins.so nice

A330-200?? i am guessing u mean business class?? anyways, i will believe it when i see it soon!!!

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