Arik Air on Tuesday announced an increase in its frequency on the Lagos-Dakar (Senegal) route to a daily service, up from six weekly flights. This was contained in a statement signed by the Communications Manager of the airline, Mr Adebanji Ola, a copy of which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. According to the statement, the new schedule will commence on Feb. 22.

It said that the new schedule would operate with four of the Lagos-Dakar flights routed via Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, instead of the previous routing via Banjul. “The other three flights will continue to operate via Accra, Ghana.” The Lagos-Abidjan-Dakar service will operate on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while the Lagos-Accra-Dakar service will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,’’ the statement said. It said that, with the new schedule, Arik Air would be able to provide its customers convenient access between Lagos, Abuja, Accra, Abidjan and Dakar markets.

According to the statement, the airline will also be increasing its frequency on the Lagos-Banjul route, from three weekly to four weekly flights, effective March 14.

“All the flights will be operated via Accra using a Boeing 737-700 Next Generation (NG) aircraft. “The Lagos-Accra-Banjul service will be operated on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, making Arik Air the only airline operating non-stop from Banjul to Accra. “Additionally, Abuja passengers can connect conveniently to Banjul via Accra on all four days,’’ the statement said. It also quoted the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Suraj Sundaram, as saying that Arik Air has the responsibility to meet the increasing demand by customers, to improve connectivity in the region.