United Airlines Increases Lagos-Washington Flight Services, Targets 100 Aircraft Yearly

August 21, (THEWILL) – International award-winning carrier, United Airlines, has announced an increase in service between Lagos and Washington D.C. from three times weekly to daily flights between December 4, 2024, and February 14, 2025.

The new development reflects a 133% year-over-year increase in seats for this period.

Director of Sales, Continental Europe, Middle East, Africa, Israel, and India at United Airlines, Mr. Thorsten Lettnin, who disclosed the new plan on Tuesday during a media round-table and working lunch held at Marriott Hotel in Lagos, also noted that United is officially the largest airline in the world.

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With a total network capacity of 2.93 billion seats, Lettnin said the airline’s vast network helps to provide flexibility, sensibility, opportunities, and choices for customers to travel wherever they want to go.

“It’s super exciting here in 2024. We are proud to say that United Airlines is officially the largest Airline in the world. There are different matrixes on how you can measure size. The way we measure is the available seat miles. So, what we do is that we take the entire network around the flight, using the example of Lagos to Washington. So you take the mileage from the route, multiply it with the frequency, and multiply it with the size of the aircraft.

“In order words, how many seats do you have? Then you build it with the entire network. Our entire network is 2.93 billion. That is available seats. It provides opportunities for our customers, sensibilities, and choices to travel wherever they want to go,” Lettnin said.

On the route network, he said, “Within the Atlantic Region, for this summer, for the first and ever in the history of United Airlines, we are flying to 37 points North-South from the United States. That is 37 points. 37 destinations in the Atlantic Region is more than any other US carrier combined. We provide easy connectivity, flexibility, and opportunities.”

According to Lettnin, during the COVID-19 era, United made the largest aircraft order in the history of US aviation, emphasizing that the airline ordered 200 widebody aircraft.

“By now, we have more than 500 aircraft on firm order. It means as of 2025, we will get every single year, 100 aircraft to our fleet for five consecutive years in a row,” he said.

Lenin also pointed out that the airline has invested in technology, which has remained dynamic over the years. For instance, the United App, Lettnin said, is now used by three million users daily.

Also speaking at the event, United’s Country Sales Manager for Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, Oluwatomi Bola-Sadipe, 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.”

This will be the first time United’s service between Lagos and Washington D.C. will operate daily and the flight continues to be the only night-time departure from Lagos to the U.S., enabling customers in Nigeria to benefit from more travel options to visit Washington D.C. as well as convenient day-time connections to destinations across the Americas.

Since the launch of United’s Lagos to Washington service in 2021, United has operated flights with state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 28 United Polaris business class lie-flat seats, 21 United Premium PlusSM premium economy seats, 36 Economy PlusSM 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.

The increase of flights from Lagos to Washington D.C. comes as United, this year, expands its presence on the second-largest continent in the world, adding Marrakesh, Morocco to its network in Africa from October 25, 2024.
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Anthony Awunor is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.