Jubilation as Arik Air’s aircraft touches down in New York

Jubilation as Arik Air’s aircraft touches down in New York
By UCHE USIM

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

It was wild jubilation in New York yesterday on Monday morning when Arik Air’s Airbus A340-500 touched down at the JFK International Airport as this is the first local operator to make such a historic flight. More so, the service remains the first in over 10 years when a Nigerian airline flew directly to the United States. The first was the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL).



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The airline’s brand new Airbus A340-500 finally taxied to a stop at the JFK International Airport at about 5a.m (New York time), to the cheer of a crowd of Nigerians resident in the city who came to receive their relations.

It was thumbs-up galore for the Nigerian carrier as passengers shared their ‘pleasant’ experiences in comfort, including spacious leg-room in the cabin, and menu of Nigerian dishes.

One of the passengers on board the Lagos - New York flight, Mr. Akinkunmi Mustapha, who had historic boarding card with sequence number 001, was excited and happy to be part of the history making flight.

Another passenger, on arrival at JFK, said: “I came out of the aircraft feeling relaxed and refreshed. I couldn’t believe I just finished an 11-hour journey. As a Nigerian, I am proud of what Arik has done.”

The Arik Air’s maiden flight from Lagos to New York JFK had taken off on Sunday (November 29) night from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. Flight W3 107 was flagged off at the scheduled departure time of 11:20pm (local time).

The flight was Arik Air’s first transatlantic service since it started operations in 2006 and the first direct service by a Nigerian airliner to New York in a decade.

On board, Arik Air offered a spacious layout on its brand new A340-500 aircraft in an enhanced 36 fully lie-flat ‘seat-bed’ in Business First cabin (Premier cabin) and 201 seats in Economy Class, offering more comfort and legroom than any airline on this route. Other new features on board this aircraft included in-seat massager and a bar and lounge area for Premier passengers. The extra wide Premier seats and 50 more leg room in the Economy cabin, gourmet cuisine and a mix of Nigerian and international cabin crew added to a host of other comforts offered in the cabin.

Arik Air has scheduled its flights conveniently for its travelling guests from both ends of the new route. Flights from Lagos on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday will depart Lagos at 11.20pm (local time) and arrive New York JFK (Terminal 4) at 5.50am (local time) the following morning. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Arik Air’s flights will depart New York JFK at 10.00pm (local time) and arrive Lagos at 2.40pm (local time) the next afternoon.

The Lagos timings would provide Arik Air’s passengers with the option to connect to and from Nigerian domestic as well as regional African points. From Lagos, the airline serves 20 other destinations across Nigeria including Abuja and Port Harcourt. The airline also serves six West African cities including Accra (Ghana), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Banjul (Gambia), Dakar (Senegal), Niamey (Niger) and Cotonou (Benin Republic). The reach of the airline’s extensive Nigerian and West African networks means it can offer transatlantic passengers convenient local and regional connections that no other airline can match.

Arik Air is Nigeria ’s leading commercial airline. It operates a fleet of 31 state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircraft. The airline currently serves 21 airports across Nigeria as well as Accra (Ghana), Banjul (Gambia), Cotonou (Benin), Dakar (Senegal), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Niamey (Niger), London Heathrow (UK) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The airline commenced non-stop flights between Abuja and London Heathrow on 26 November 2009.

The airline currently operates over 124 daily flights from its hubs in Lagos and Abuja.

It employs a workforce of more than 1,800.