…Says We Operate Into Nigeria With The Right Equipment
The Commercial Director East and West Africa, Delta Airlines, Mr. Bobby Byran has said that safety is the airline’s priority and that all the aircraft the airline operates into Nigeria are safe.
Bryan’s reaction came on the heels of a question concerning the aircraft the airline operate into the country.
Delta, he stated would only use the right equipment for the right market at any particular point in time.
He also disclosed that Delta Airlines carried 900,000 passengers from Nigeria to the United States, adding that the international carrier will continue to operate the route going by the fruitful fruits it has yielded.
Bryan, who stated this in a parley to with journalists on the activities of the airlines in 2015 and what to expect next year, explained that Nigeria as a destination is one of the airlines strong market.
He posited that the market in the country is a very unique one for Delta to benefit from and vice versa, as it does not follow the usual market trend.
According to him, “Delta only operates safe, well-maintained aircraft. All our aircraft are certified safe and we fly them everywhere. We do not have a particular aircraft for any one destination; we use aircraft as the market dictates. The same aircraft we fly into Lagos can be used for Amsterdam, Tokyo and any other place the traffic dictates. We do not keep dedicated aircraft to any route.”
On how sees the Nigerian aviation market, Commercial Director East and West Africa, said that the reality was clear and that Nigeria is the future of Africa aviation market.
In his words, “Africa is the future and Nigeria is the future of Africa, the Nigerian market always comes back against the run of play. In other climes, other markets have periods where there is traffic peak and when it is low but the Nigerian market is the exception. There are times it slows down but it picks up again, sometimes a bit slow sometimes quickly.”
On the number of passengers the airline has transported from Nigeria to the United States since the commencement of flight operations on the route, he said, “Delta started service between Nigeria and the United States in December 2007, since that date we have carried over 900,000 passengers on the route. Delta is now the only airline to operate a daily year-round service between the U.S. and Lagos. On average we carry approximately 10,000 passengers per month.”
“Delta has a strong market share of Nigeria-U.S. traffic and on our Lagos to Atlanta flight have an average load factor of over 80% with bookings trending positively. Delta has strong links between Nigeria and the United States. Not only given the large amount of high yield oil related passenger traffic and Lagos’ status as the commercial capital of Nigeria, but also given the strong ties with Atlanta which is home to a large Nigerian population.” he added
He declared that the year has been a profitable year for the international he declared has been having a profitable year and that its financial performance is increasing symbiotically with the airlines vast operations.
In his words, “Our operational performance has gone hand-in-hand with our financial performance. If we look after our people, they look after our customers, who in turn look after our shareholders. The numbers speak for themselves.”
According to him, “The 2015 Q3 results was the 10th record quarter in a row for Delta. We earned a pre-tax profit of $2.2 billion an increase of $547 million year over year. This allowed us to return $532 million to our owners through $107 million of dividends and $425 million of share repurchases.”
