Niyi Alebiosu was on board when Air Nigeria made its first flight to London recently. He captures the atmosphere from Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos to Gatwick International Airport, London.THE ever busy Nigeria/London flight route had more light thrown at it recently when after some years, a Nigerian brand made its debut on the route with a touch.Prepared to make its inaugural flight on Wednesday 16 May, 2012, the darling passengers all gathered at MMA Lagos for the unforgettable experience. As such, the passengers were accorded due respect when they were eventually checked in. Headed by Livinus Olizkwe, the profiling unit was the first to hint the passengers of what they were in to.The aircraft, 'Papa D.O' was named after the founder of Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo. 'Papa D.O' with heads of various industries-insurance, aviation, banking and media, made its official first flight to London in a six-hour thirty-five minutes trip. Also on board was the Group Managing Director of Air Nigeria, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, Mayor Akinpelu, Steve Ayorinde and others.Having had a taste of the classy Air Nigeria service before they took off in Nigeria, the on-flight services satisfaction was something the passengers could not have underestimated. Addressing a gathering of the passengers at a dinner organised in London, the GMD of Air Nigeria said his wish was 'to see the airline ranked among the best in the world.'Buoyed by the success of the maiden flight, Ibrahim said 'Our plan is to focus on international operations as an airline. No airline succeeds by flying only domestic. If an aircraft flies to Abuja 10 times a day, it loses its life cycle ten times. In other words, it is 10 times closer to a C-check. All the major international airlines like British Airways, Air France and KLM make profit by focusing on international operations. British Airways bought BMI for over 176m a year ago. It has about 10 aircraft. BMI focuses on domestic operations. But now, British Airways is saying that if they cannot get a buyer, any moment from now they are going to liquidate it. All these big airlines have come to realise that running domestic airlines is not profitable.'He continued to reel out plans of Air Nigeria as an airline that is ready to make its mark and even set a standard. According to him, Air Nigeria will be taking delivery of new modern aircraft to announce its arrival in a better way in the aviation industry.'We will take delivery of another aircraft in 20 days from now-An Airbus A330-200. We will then have two aircraft in our international operations. And this aircraft will be deployed to the Lagos-Dubai route.'Part of the international routes we will deploy these aircraft to is Rome. Data available from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority show that 58,000 people travelled to Rome last year. Italian Airline-Alitalia carried only 27,000 of these people, so we will be flying Lagos-Rome-Paris.We have also got government approval to fly to Rome, Paris, Johannesburg and Dubai. We will start flying to Dubai before the end of this quarter,' he said.After highlighting the plans of Air Nigeria to really show that it was ready for the task ahead, the GMD said passengers would enjoy varying degrees of first class services by all classes on board.'Passengers are in for a lot of things. Apart from the varieties of meals, every business class passengers will have access to Ipads. With that they have an array of entertainment to choose from.'For the business class passengers, our Lagos-London flight is the best place to relax after all the stress of business deals. It is quite an unending experience.'Nevertheless, the GMD while describing the effort which had gone into making the Lagos-London route which, according to statistics, always had more flights and passengers available on a weekly basis its focus. He added that 'five years from now, Air Nigeria will be flying a minimum of 15 big jets (wide body aircraft). There is no continent we won't be flying to five years from now. This year, we have gone places. In Europe, we are here. When you wake up in the morning in Lagos, you can fly to any part of the world on Air Nigeria.'Beyond that, I want to assure you that two years from now, we will be depositing Air Nigeria into your hands. What does that mean' Air Nigeria will now have to go Plc. It will now be an airline proudly owned by Nigerians. I will sell my shares, and then you can buy some. Air Nigeria will be in the market. So we will meet at Annual General Meetings and discuss, that is our plan. By then, Air Nigeria will be fully Nigerian,' he assured.He noted that Air Nigeria had actually been invited to be listed under the special registry of the stock exchange. 'So, two years from now, Air Nigeria will be in the market, you will be a shareholder, I will be a shareholder. It will be our airline.'While sharing their experiences with the Nigerian Tribune, some of the passengers described it as an unforgettable trip.A human right and constitutional lawyer, Dr Mike A.A. Ozekhome, (SAN), described the inaugural flight as wonderful. He said it is one of the best he had travelled with in the last 15 years in term of stability. 'Today, I am proud to be a Nigerian, that the country can now have her own flag carrier. I want Nigerians to patronise this airline and let us see it as our own.'Another passenger who pleaded anonymity, a management consultant based in the United Kingdom, applauded the management of the Airline for the courage of coming on the route. He thus canvassed for the sustenance of international standard, something he said would assist in attracting passengers.In his appreciation, Managing Director of Air Nigeria, Mr Kinfe Kahssaye, highlighting the airline's vision said, 'It is a long journey that we are going as an airline. So we plead with you to go with us. 'We need your support as stakeholders to get the vision realised. We need the support of every Nigerian both in Nigeria and Nigerians in Diaspora to get the vision realised. Nigeria should have an airline that will reflect her position in Africa. We all know the position of Nigeria in Africa, Air Nigeria will do everything within its capacity to maintain the standard we have set today. I assure you that with Air Nigeria, it is going to be an unforgettable rich and safe experience all the time. The airline industry in Nigeria needs the support of the government and Nigerians as well,' Kahssaye noted.
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