TheCable

United Airlines says it has commenced flight operations from Washington, United States, to Lagos, Nigeria.

The new service marks the airline’s return to Nigeria since it left in 2016 over foreign exchange crisis.

In a statement, the airline announced that its inaugural flight from Washington arrived in Lagos on Tuesday.

It stated that with three weekly flights, United is the “first and only airline serving Washington, D.C. nonstop from Lagos.”

“The flight is operated with state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, featuring United’s award-winning United PolarisSM business class cabin and United Premium PlusSM premium economy,” the statement reads.

The airline said that a water cannon salute marked the arrival of United flight UA612. It added that Oluwatomi Bola-Sadipe, United’s country sales manager, Nigeria, Victoria Shin-Aba, regional general manager at Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and Claire Pierangelo, US consul general, welcomed the first arriving United customers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).

Speaking on the development, Patrick Quayle, United’s Senior Vice President of International Network Planning and Alliances, said: “This new flight from Lagos reinforces our ongoing commitment to growing our network in Africa and providing more convenient service to the destinations our customers want to fly to most.”

“This highly anticipated service will provide a key gateway between Lagos and Washington D.C., as well as easy one-stop connections to almost 80 destinations across the Americas, including Houston and Chicago.”

In her remarks, Mary Beth Leonard, US ambassador to Nigeria, said: “This exciting initiative further expands our economic relationship, promotes people-to-people ties, and creates new opportunities for United, travel companies, and customers alike.”