United Airlines has inaugurated flights between Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS). The inaugural flight left Dulles on Monday with a grand celebration kickstarting the next chapter in the airline’s Africa expansion. The Airline first announced the decision to fly into Lagos in September 2020 and the route finally went on sale a year later. This development marked the airline’s third route launch to Africa this year.

The flight will operate three times per week from the carrier’s Dulles hub on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The airline has scheduled its flights to run on 243-seat Boeing 787-8s. These planes feature 28 of the airline’s newest Polaris lie-flat hard product. There are also 21 premium economy seats onboard.

United also offers two economy products on this plane: 36 extra-legroom economy seats and 158 standard economy seats. Polaris is in a 1-2-1 configuration, giving all passengers direct aisle access. Premium economy, which is similar to a domestic recliner-style first class cabin, is in a 2-3-2 configuration. Lastly, the economy cabin is in a 3-3-3 configuration.

The inaugural flight launch attracted dignitaries including the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States; Dr. Uzoma Emenike, the Vice President of International network and alliances, Mr. Patrick Quayle, and the United Airlines Director of policy, Mr. Chaitan Jain, among others.

The event which took place at Gate C1 in Washington’s Dulles International (IAD) turned the terminal into a celebratory mood. As is traditional with long-haul international route launches, United organized a traditional performance filled with song and dance. Several passengers even got involved, turning the gate area around C1 into a festive preflight celebration.

Dr. Uzoma Emenike

Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States Dr. Uzoma Emenike expressed gratitude to the government of the United States of America, and it’s Department of Transportation for supporting the plan in providing the laudable service. This she said lays credence and indeed is a testament to the recognition of the dynamic relation between Nigeria and the United States of America.

She noted that “Nigeria and U.S relation is growing stronger and stronger, covering all aspects ranging from economic, defence cooperation to good governance, just to mention a few. Our partnership is a strategic one. Obviously, Tourism is in that mix as today’s event captures and reflects that. Indeed one must point out that this is a significant milestone”.

“It is important to highlight that Nigeria is the United States’ second largest trading partner in Africa.  Nigeria is at the verge of becoming her number one trade partner in Sub-Saharan Africa. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria. Nigeria is a veritable investment destination therefore directs flights from the United States to Nigeria further facilitating the investment drive”.

Highlighting the huge potential in air travel between the two countries, she said that “Nigerian travelers to the United States every year are awesome, and it boosts American and Nigerian businesses, including the education sector, mostly Colleges and Universities. We have over 13,000 students studying in the United States and about 7,800 exchange programs between Nigerian and the American Universities. This is in addition to a teeming population of Nigerian diaspora in the United States. There is no doubt that this will be a lucrative route for United Airlines”.

She also urged United Airlines to look into expanding into other parts major cities in Nigeria  such as; Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano routes, especially Abuja, being the capital, assuring the Airline of the cooperation, and support of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Mr. Patrick Quayle

Mr. Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President, International Network and Alliances, at United Airlines who leads the team that put the Washington-Lagos route on the map used the opportunity to cast the expansion as part of United’s broader moves in Africa. The airline he said has already inaugurated flights to Accra and Johannesburg earlier this year, which were also announced at the same time as Lagos. Flights to Cape Town he said will resume on December 1st.

Speaking on the strategic importance of the Lagos route, Mr. Quayle said that adding this from Dulles also enables connections across the airline’s network. “This is a fantastic hub because in this bank, we can connect more than 80 cities. 80 different cities across the United States and Canada can come in here and now have one-stop service to Lagos. On top of that, there is a huge market in the greater Washington area, as well as the Nigerian embassy right here in Washington D.C. So this is a quick, easy way to get home to Nigeria.”

United Airlines is only operating three weekly services between Washington D.C. and Lagos. This was the same frequency the airline initially offered to Accra, Ghana, when it launched the route early this year from IAD. Now, Accra is moving to daily services around the winter holidays and then will be permanently upgraded to daily service next summer. United Airlines could undoubtedly continue to grow.

The enthusiasm and load on the flight to Lagos indicate that the route could be a long-term success on an aircraft as efficient as the Boeing 787-8. One of the more immediate ways United could grow would be to add more frequencies, perhaps bringing Lagos up to daily service if flights work well. Another way could be for United to expand service to Lagos from another hub.

Delta Air Lines also flies to Lagos from the United States. It operates daily flights from its hub in Atlanta. It has also offered three weekly flights from New York to Lagos, making United the second airline and third route to Nigeria.

Africa is a growing air market. Nonstop flights between the US and Africa are relatively slim, and no Nigerian airline flies to the US from Nigeria. Delta and United are also the only two US airlines serving Africa. United’s Star Alliance partner, Ethiopian Airlines, has the most extensive portfolio of services between the US and Africa, though due to the geography of its hub in Addis Ababa, a decent number of its services are one-stop operations. Nevertheless, the airline still has a large share of traffic.United Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, but that does not stop it from launching some ambitious new long-haul routes.

Foreign airlines are typically some of the most important ones for getting passengers to and from Africa. Before United launched this nonstop service, it would route its passengers to Lagos via a connection, often in Europe. The new nonstop will shave off a significant amount of time on flying between Washington D.C. and Lagos. With this route finally launched, the airline has reached a new milestone in its Africa network. Though it is not the first time the airline has served Nigeria, it is abundantly confident that it has the right mix of route, aircraft, and frequency to make it work, and more could come.