Barely two months after the acquisition of the national flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria, by business mogul, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, the airline's name was on Wednesday changed to Air Nigeria to reflect a truly Nigerian carrier.

Under the new arrangement, the airline, which is now registered as Air Nigeria Development Limited, will be known as Air Nigeria.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Ibrahim said the new name, already approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), had been registered with a certificate number RC 501975.

The new owner attributed the change of name to his determination to make the airline fully indigenous and to enable it reflect Nigerian culture with a view to showcasing that Nigeria as a country can perform.

Ibrahim, who hinted that the airline would be launching 10 aircraft on October 1, added that the first branded aircraft with the new name would arrive Nigeria before the end of next week from France, while the remaining aircraft would come in succession.

The chairman of the airline said the airline had gone past its worst days, adding that the diagnostic review carried out by the airline management showed an enterprise in financial distress leading to operational delays even though with a first-class technical services.

Ibrahim, who explained that in a matter of days the financial distress of the airline would have been over by 95 per cent, added that the present focus of the airline was to address financial distress before embarking on human resources re-engineering.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jun/3/604.html

A Good airline when it was run partly by Virgin Atlantic but it looks like the airline is heading for the scrap yard just like the former Nigeria Airways. The questions remains " Can Nigerians ever run any business that will stand the test of time" - I guess Richard branson had foresight and quickly washed his hands off Virgin Nigeria.

blacksta:

A Good airline when it was run partly by Virgin Atlantic but it looks like the airline is heading for the scrap yard just like the former Nigeria Airways. The questions remains " Can Nigerians ever run any business that will stand the test of time" - I guess Richard branson had foresight and quickly washed his hands off Virgin Nigeria.

dumb,est shiot I ever saw on NL- Kase Lawal, Aliko Dangote, Bayo Ogunlesi, Femi Otedola,- All of whom are mentioned in Times Magazine and Forbes. Mike Adenuga is doing well also.

Jimoh Ibrahim is majority share holder- excuse him for trying to make smart business deals. The Fu%% is it a crime for Nigerians to invest in Nigeria affairs and not have it owned by foreigners.

Where do you come from I said that you are a mechanic- I was probably right.

I wish him Luck.

Jimoh Ibrahim has acquired the 'national carrier'?

blacksta:
Ibrahim, who explained that in a matter of days the [b]financial distress [/b]of the airline would have been over by 95 per cent, added that the present focus of the airline was to address financial distress before embarking on human resources re-engineering.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jun/3/604.html

WTF? this is a man that could not successfully manage NICON AIRLINES. the airline's license was suspended 2008 (cos of its rickety airplanes), the airline has not flown since then till date

how can a man that could not successfully manage his 'private' airline, be allowed to own the license of the 'national carrier'

What does this mean?

1. Are they going to change the service?

2. Is the quality going to change?

What's the point of changing the name if nothing else changes?

Let's give him some time, I dont know why I believe he will make a positive impact.

The name is cool though.

blacksta:

A Good airline when it was run partly by Virgin Atlantic but it looks like the airline is heading for the scrap yard just like the former Nigeria Airways. The questions remains " Can Nigerians ever run any business that will stand the test of time" - I guess Richard branson had foresight and quickly washed his hands off Virgin Nigeria.

If he really had foresight then he wouldn't have started operations for Virgin Nigeria; afterall, the airline lasted less than half the life of an aircraft. He took a risk, the risk did not pay off but he had the sense to divest. Nothing to do with foresight.

Was it not the same Virgin Nigeria that was recently changed to Eagle Airlines, why the need for another name change in quick succesion ?

Jimoh Ibrahim? Now he has declared for PDP. I bellieve he's got a plan. Hope he can manage the airline.