Nigeria Airways was the former national airline of Nigeria, founded in 1958[citation needed] and headquartered in Ikeja, Lagos State.[1] The airline was owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
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History
The airline was created under the name of West African Airways Corporation (Nigeria) in 1958 as a result of the dissolution of the West African Airways Corporation (WAAC). WAAC (Nigeria) inherited the assets and liabilities of WAAC; its name was later changed to Nigeria Airways. It was initially created as a joint venture between the Nigerian government, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and Elder Dempster, with the Nigerian government holding a controlling interest of 51 percent of shares. This partnership broke up on March 25, 1961 when BOAC and Elder Dempster agreed to sell their shares to the Nigerian government.[2]
Nigeria Airways operated services to London using a De Havilland Comet 4Bs. Nigeria Airways also operated the Douglas DC-3 on internal routes during the 1960s followed by the turboprop Fokker Friendship and the jet Boeing 737 in later years.
For the European services, a Vickers VC10 was used from 1969, replaced by Boeing 707s in 1971. Douglas DC-10-30s were introduced in 1976 and Airbus A310s in 1983. While the A310s were on order Boeing 747-200s were used.
In 2001 the United Kingdom refused to allow Nigeria Airways to operate from Lagos to London due to concerns about the safety of the Air Djibouti Boeing 747 being leased in to operate the service. The service had been halted since 1998.
The airline ceased operating in 2003. It had accumulated significant debts, and various allegations have been made that former Nigerian rulers looted and mismanaged the airline which accelerated its failure. (See External links). The Nigerian government later came to an agreement with Virgin Atlantic Airways to found Virgin Nigeria Airways, intended as a replacement, although the ground facilities of the old Nigeria Airways were eventually taken over by another company, Arik Air.
Nigeria Airways operated using IATA code WT, ICAO code NIS.
Cities served
Africa
- Abidjan
- Abuja
- Accra
- Banjul
- Benin City
- Calabar
- Conakry
- Cotonou
- Dakar
- Douala
- Enugu
- Freetown
- Gusau
- Jos
- Kaduna
- Kano
- Libreville
- Lomé
- Makurdi
- Nairobi
- Port Harcourt
- Sokoto
- Tiko
- Yola
Europe
Asia
Americas
Fleet
Historic Fleet
Nigeria Airways operated the following aircraft:
- Airbus A310-200
- Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
- Boeing 707-320
- Boeing 727
- Fokker F27 Friendship
- Fokker F28 Fellowship
- Douglas C-47/DC-3
- Boeing 737-200/737-400
- Boeing 747-100/747-200/747-300
- Boeing 767-200
- de Havilland Comet 4
- Douglas DC-10-30 (*also received the last DC-10 built (cn 48318/446) leased from World Airways)
- Vickers VC10
See also
External links
- WAAC to WAAC Nigeria to Nigeria Airways
- WAAC to WAAC (Nigeria) to Nigeria Airways
- WAAC (Nigeria) otherwise known as Nigeria Airways (1960s)
- Nigeria seeks lost airways money (BBC)
- Britain Stops Nigeria Airways from Returning to Lagos-London Flight (People's Daily, China)
- Old timetable images
- Nigeria Airways DC-3
References
- ^ Ketefe, Kayode. "Firm acquires Airways HQ for N950m." The Punch. Wednesday 1 February 2006. Retrieved on 20 September 2009.
- ^ Nigeria Year Book 1962. Daily Times of Nigeria. 1962. pp. 55–57.
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