The Managing Director, of the Arik airline, Mr. Mike McTighe, said at a press conference in Lagos that it had secured all approvals necessary for the commencement of the flights.
On Monday, said it would commence a non-stop daily flights between Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa, its second long haul international destination, by June 1.
He said, “This is a particularly exciting development for all travellers between Lagos and Johannesburg. Our service will be operated with a newly acquired Airbus A340-500 aircraft. This allows us to offer our on-board guests the very highest levels of in-flight service.
“The airline’s first A340-500 is proving popular on its daily service between Lagos and London Heathrow. This second new airbus is configured in the same spacious layout with 36 seats in premier class and 201 seats in economy class.”
According to him, the flights will depart from the Murtala Muhammed International, Airport, Lagos, at 21.35pm local time and arrive Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, at 04.50am the following morning.
McTighe said that the return flight would depart Johannesburg at 1.45pm local time, and arrive Lagos at 7.00pm local time on the same day.
“With our attractive on-board product, Arik is very proud to be able to now offer our service to customers wishing to travel between Lagos and Johannesburg.
“Guests in premier class will enjoy luxurious leather-upholstered seats that convert into fully flat 75-inch long beds, a state-of-the-art personal video- and audio-on-demand entertainment system and a wide 17-inch personal TV screen. Guests will also have their own in-flight bar area in which to relax,” he stated.
McTighe said its economy cabin’s seat-back entertainment, which comes in a 2-4-2 seat layout provides each guest with up to 50 per cent more legroom than competitors, saying, no passenger would be more than one seat away from the aisle.
The Arik boss also exuded confidence that the airline’s schedule would prove popular with its future customers in South Africa .
Arik will be competing against Bellview and South Africa Airways currently operating on the route. Virgin Nigeria suspended flights on the route early this year, citing economic reasons.
