Emirates to expand Nigerian network

Emirates will expand its presence in Africa's most populous country Nigeria, with the start of a daily linked service to Abuja and Kano from August 1, 2014. .Emirates presently operates double daily service to Lagos of Nigeria.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays Emirates will fly to Kano via Abuja, and from there It will fly back to Dubai. On the other hand, on  Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Emirates will operate flights to Abuja with a stopover at Kano and will return direct to Dubai, according to a statement.

The route will be serviced by an Airbus A340-500 offering a total of 258 seats in a three class configuration - 12 in First Class, 42 in Business Class and 204 in Economy Class.

Abuja, located in the centre of Nigeria replaced Lagos as the country's capital in 1991. It is the seat of the Federal Government and home to most of Nigeria's institutions, including the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Abuja is also the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States and the regional headquarters of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Kano, the capital of Kano State in northern Nigeria, is the second most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos.

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of the airline, introduced a scheduled freighter service to Kano in October 2013, and with Abuja joining the network, Emirates will now fly to 26 destinations in Africa and 142 worldwide in 80 countries.