United Airlines, the world’s largest carrier in terms of Available Seat Miles (ASM), has announced an increase in its flights between Lagos and Washington D.C., from three-times weekly to daily flights effective December 4, 2024 to February 14, 2025 for its winter schedule. This reflects a 133% year-over-year increase in seats for the period.
The increase in flights also marks the first time United’s service between Lagos and Washington D.C. and it is instructive to note that the airline’s flight is the only night-time departure out of Lagos to the United States. This enables customers in Nigeria to gain a day and benefit from more travel options to visit Washington D.C., as well as have convenient day-time connections to destinations across the Americas.
Mrs. Oluwatomi Bola-Sadipe, United’s Country Sales Manager Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa said, “Africa continues to be an integral part of United’s global network and we are delighted to announce an increase of flights from Lagos to Washington Dulles during the winter season with our state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliner aircraft. We are proud to not only offer our customers in Nigeria even greater travel choice when booking their next U.S. getaway, but also provide convenient one-stop connections to over 70 destinations across the Americas, including Houston, Chicago, and New York/Newark.”
Speaking on the growth of the airline, Thorsten Lettnin, United’s Director Sales Continental Europe, India, Israel, Africa & Middle East said, “We are proud to say that we are officially the largest airline in the world based on Available Seat Miles (ASM). Our entire network is 2.93 billion ASMs. This is important because it does provide opportunities for our customers, it provides more choice, it provides flexibility and it provides opportunity for our customers to travel to wherever they want to go, from wherever they are coming from, whatever their final destination might be. Today we have more than 500 aircraft on firm order and to digest this, it means as of 2025, we will get every single year 100 aircraft to our fleet for five consecutive years in a row.”
He added that, “We must earn the trust of our customers every single day we operate. And the one thing we know with the eyes from the African continent, with the eyes from the Nigerian customer is we must come to Lagos, every day we operate, with the best product. And the best product we have in the United Airlines fleet is the Dreamliner. The Dreamliner comes to Lagos every day we operate. And that is important. We understand that if you want to be successful, the best product is the key to opening the door for success.”
Also coming on the heels of the increase of flights from Lagos to Washington D.C., United also announced that it is expanding its presence on the African continent by adding Marrakesh, Morocco to its network effective October 25, 2024. This will make United the first and only airline to operate nonstop flights from Marrakesh to the United States and operates routes from Cape Town, South Africa to New York/Newark and Washington D.C, Johannesburg, South Africa to New York/Newark and Accra, Ghana to Washington D.C.
Since the launch of flights Lagos in 2021, United has operated the service with its state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 28 United Polaris business class lie-flat seats, 21 United Premium Plus premium economy seats, 36 Economy Plus seats and 158 standard economy seats. The revolutionary design of the Dreamliner offers customers many features for increased comfort, such as large windows, spacious overhead storage, and modern LED lighting to simulate a full day, helping passengers adjust their internal clock on the transatlantic flight.
