Medview Airline is to commence international flight out of the country to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Managing Director, Med-View, Alhaji Muneer Bankole disclosed this to journalists at the airline’s office in Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Lagos, while unveiling another new aircraft that increased the number of aircraft in the airline’s fleet to five.
Bankole said that the airline would commence two weekly flights from Lagos-Kano to Jeddah with plans to increase the frequencies to four in the coming months.
He stated that the aircraft, which arrived at the international wing of the airport last weekend, was leased from Air Explore in Slovakia and would be used for the Jeddah route from December 31, 2015.
The aircraft with the registration number OM-GEX is configured for 176 passengers comprising of eight business class seats and 176 economy seats.
The Medview Airline boss stated that apart from operating the Jeddah route, which the aircraft would be deployed to, the aircraft would also immediately commence flight operations to its Yola route, that had since increased from one daily to twice daily.
He also disclosed that the airline had been designated to 17 international and regional routes, including seven in Africa, which it would continue to explore and operate into.
He added that in the couple of weeks, it would expand its Port Harcourt operations to two from the existing one daily.
Commenting on its Lagos-London flights, Bankole hinted that the flights had been increasing on a daily basis and expressed confidence that it would continue to grow.
“We chose Gatwick instead of Heathrow airport because the airport has a limited challenge. From Heathrow alone, we have three airlines that are operating direct daily flights; British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Arik Air, but we are the only one operating from Gatwick. As it is today, all our flights out of Lagos to London are fully booked till the end of January. I don’t know whether to call it acceptance or something else, but one thing I know is that our flights have been increasing daily and I want to thank Nigerians for this.”
He also said: “Also, our flights to and from Accra route, which we started about 14 months ago have been increasing and regularly full. We are also planning Dubai operations in the first quarter of 2016 and that is how we hope to grow and consolidate on our operations.”
Also speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer, Air Explore, Slovakia, Mr. Martin Stulajter, commended management of Med-View for the existing relationships between the two organisations.
Stulajter assured that the existing relationship would continue as the airline had proved to be reliable and consistent in its business development plans.
