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Sunday 31 March 2019
Travel
Respite for passengers as Aero commences flight to Yola at reduced fares
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Stories By IFEOMA OKEKE
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n a bid to respond to the yearnings to Nigerians who had difficulties getting a direct flight to Yola, Nigeria’s foremost airline, Aero Contractors has reduced airfare to Yola as it begins flight operations to the capital of Adamawa state. The airline, which is repositioning its scheduled and fixed wing operations as it increases aircraft in its fleet, marked its inaugural flight to Yola via Abuja on Tuesday with high load factor. The airline’s Boeing 737-500 aircraft touched down at the Yola International Airport at exactly 6:00 pm to a ceremonial water salute by the airport fire fighters and excited passengers who lauded the efficiency of the nation’s oldest carrier, known for its goodwill and safety record. The aircraft had departed Lagos to Yola enroute Abuja on the flight commanded by Imoleayo Adebunle, the airline’s chief pilot. The airline said its Yola flight departs Lagos 3:20 p.m daily, arrives Abuja 4:35 before departing for Yola at 5 pm and arriving at 6:10 according to the Lagos-Yola schedule. According to passengers who
travelled with the flight, the coming of Aero has deepened flight options to travellers desirous of seamless connectivity from Lagos or Abuja to the North Eastern state. To attract potential passengers who travel regularly on the route, the airline has also started with a promo fare of N18,500 from Yola to Abuja and N20,000 for Yola to Lagos which is a twohour flight. AbdulMalik Musa, Interim Station Manager for the airline, said the airline has decided to make it a night stop in Yola and early morning departure to enable business people meet their morning schedule in Abuja and Lagos.
He said it was a deliberate business strategy as Aero is the only airline out of the three other carriers operating to Yola doing night stop in Yola and morning departure. The station manager assured that the airline would continue to provide on-time and excellent inflight service on the route. “We are fully prepared for this service. As you can see the aircraft is on ground on schedule from Lagos down to Abuja. That is how we want to keep it. The schedule is morning departure. We commence boarding at 7 am and by 7:30, we are out of this place. “We decided to pick this time for
the numerous passengers in Yola because some of them are business people and working class people. They can be able to be in Abuja at 8:30 a.m to meet the office hours and their business schedule as well as in Lagos at 10:30 a.m and be able to come back if they wish,” Musa said. “There are four airlines operating into Yola including us. So the competition is there. We have to come into the market with a new strategy. So we decided to make it a night stop. We started with a promo fare of N18,500 to Abuja and N20,000 to Lagos. I’m sure no airline can beat that. It is an opening for the youths,” he added.
Delta celebrate one year nonstop flight from Lagos to New York-JFK
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elta Air Lines made a successful first 12 months of flying between Lagos and New York-JFK. The nonstop flight started on March 26, 2018 and operates three times a week. Delta also flies nonstop between Lagos and Atlanta four times a week, meaning Nigerians have a daily connection to the United States. Over the past year, Delta’s Lagos-New York-JFK service has had an average load factor of 84 percent, welcomed almost 60,000 customers on-board and seen the most popular onward connections to Baltimore, Dallas, Chicago and Boston “Nigeria is an important market for Delta and offering the choice of flying to either New York or Atlanta enables us to better serve our customers. Flying nonstop to these hubs offers a wealth of connecting options across the United States and beyond,” Bobby Bryan, Delta’s Commercial Director East and West Africa said. “Delta has served Nigeria for 11 years and we’re proud to continue
Air Peace decorates two new captains, insists on high safety standards
being the only U.S. carrier flying between our nations.” Delta’s flights from New York and Atlanta are conveniently timed to depart at the end of the day enabling customers to maximise their time in the United States. The flights are operated using Delta’s Airbus A330 fleet with upgraded interiors, including flat-bed seats in the Delta One business class cabin. The airline also offers premium customers complimentary lounge access, plus the ability to choose their meal in advance of their flight. Throughout the aircraft, Delta serves regional cuisine and a variety of complimentary beverages. There’s also free in-flight entertainment including Nollywood movies, plus on-demand Wi-Fi connectivity through which customers have access to free mobile messaging via iMessage, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Delta is the largest carrier in both Atlanta and New York-JFK, with customers travelling on Delta’s services from Nigeria able to conveniently connect the same day to more than 200 destinations in the United States and beyond.
Emirates offers Nigerian travellers special offer including hotel stay
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mirates is enhancing the travel experience of Nigerian travellers by offering complimentary hotel stay with the new special offer across its First, Business and Economy Class cabins, the offer also includes Skywards bonus miles. The special offer will commence March 26th till April 3rd 2019, while travel dates is scheduled for April 1st till June 30th 2019. Nigerian Travellers departing from Lagos to Dubai can avail a round-trip ticket for 8,963dollars on First Class, 3,229 dollars on Business Class, and 799dollars on Economy class; and for travellers departing from Abuja to Dubai the round-trip ticket is 8,963 dollars on First Class, 3,229 dollars on business Class, and 629 dollars on Economy class. Nigerian Economy Class travellers will enjoy one first night accommodation in a Rover Room at the Rove Downtown, Rove City Centre or Rove Healthcare City, including bed and breakfast, while First and Business Class travellers
will enjoy a first night accommodation at the 5 star JW Marriott Marquis, Dubai, including bed and breakfast. The First class travellers will enjoy an Executive room, while the Business class travellers will enjoy a Deluxe room. “Whether it is celebrating a special occasion, taking the family on a holiday, making that trip of a lifetime, or attending a reunion with family or friends, there is never a better time to turn those travel resolutions into travel plans, said, Afzal Parambil, regional manager West Africa. “Emirates is offering the chance to explore Dubai at great value, while ensuring that the journey itself is a great experience.” Emirates offers all its customer, across all classes an unmatched choice of the latest movies, TV shows and music on-board from 4,000 channels of on-demand entertainment, up to 20MB complimentary on-board Wi-Fi, as well as regionally-inspired meals prepared by award-winning chefs.
est Africa’s biggest carrier, Air Peace last week elevated two members of its flight crew to the rank of captain, urging them to sustain the high safety standards the carrier is reputed for. Speaking during the decoration of Oluwasegun Fatonade and William Devine as captains at Air Peace Corporate Headquarters in Lagos, Allen Onyema, the carrier’s chairman/ chief executive officer, said he was proud that they scaled the tough tests for donning the fourbar epaulette. The rigorous requirements the new captains were subjected to, he insisted, were necessary to ensure they were qualified for the high quality of the airline’s flight operations. He assured that Air Peace would continue to reward excellence as a pro-staff organisation and ensure that its workers were promoted without regard to ethnicity and favouritism. “I’m one of the happiest persons today. I take pride in seeing people grow. We are pro-staff. In our own little way, we try to ensure that staff enjoy their time here. Anyone can become anything they want to be here without discrimination. “I don’t meddle in matters involving selection and elevation of our flight crew. It is strictly on merit. For the flight crew training team to have adjudged the new captains worthy of flying for Air Peace, they really must be good. It says a lot about their quality. The tough tests they passed through before being selected for elevation as captains was necessary to ensure the sustenance of the high standards of our flight operations. “It’s not everyone that was tested that made it. I urge the new captains to continue to work hard to sustain the high quality of our flight operations. The position of a captain is one that comes with huge responsibility, but I have no doubt they will excel in their new roles,” Onyema said. For his part, Ndubisi Ekwempu, Air Peace head of training, who presented the new captains to Onyema for decoration, described them as hardworking and dedicated members of the flight crew. Their elevation to the left seat, he said, was well deserved. He, however, urged Captains Fatonade and Devine not to rest on their oars.