No dull business moment in Nigeria, says Delta Airlines

DELTA Airlines has disclosed that the carrier has lifted 900,000 passengers from Nigeria to the United States since it began operation in the country eight years ago

The airlines also used the occasion to reaffirm its operational guiding spirit that safety is of utmost priority, re-assuring that all aircraft they flew to Nigeria and every other route are safe.

Speaking at a recent press conference in Lagos, the Commercial Director, East and West Africa; Delta Airlines, Bobby Bryan said that Nigeria as a destination is one of the airlines’ strong market, stressing that the market in the country does not follow the usual trend making it a unique market for the airlines to benefit from.

Bobby Byran also gave updates on the airlines’ activities during the year and what is to follow in the coming year.

His words: “Delta only operates safe, well-maintained aircraft. All our aircraft are certified safe and we fly them everywhere. We do not have a particular aircraft for any one destination, we use aircraft as the market dictates. The same aircraft we fly into Lagos can be used for Amsterdam, Tokyo and any other place the traffic dictates. We do not keep dedicated aircraft to any route,”

On the evaluation of the Nigerian market, he said that the reality was clear,” Africa is the future and Nigeria is the future of Africa, the Nigerian market always comes back against the run of play. In other climes, other markets have periods where there is traffic peak and when it is low but the Nigerian market is the exception. There are times it slows down but it picks up again, sometimes a bit slow sometimes quickly”.

”Delta started service between Nigeria and the United States in December 2007, since that date we have carried over 900,000 passengers on the route. Delta is now the only airline to operate a daily year-round service between the U.S. and Lagos.  On average we carry approximately 10,000 passengers per month”

“Delta has a strong market share of Nigeria-U.S. traffic and on our Lagos to Atlanta flight have an average load factor of over 80 per cent with bookings trending positively.