Delta Expands Africa Presence With First Nonstop Flights Between Atlanta and Lagos, Nigeria  Only major U.S. airline to fly to Africa builds on existing routes to Ghana, Senegal, South Africa December 03, 2007: 03:38 PM EST

ATLANTA, Dec. 3, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today inaugurates the only flights operated by a major U.S. airline between the United States and Nigeria with daily nonstop service between the world's largest airline hub in Atlanta and Lagos, Nigeria -- one of Africa's largest business centers. Delta, the only U.S. airline to fly to Africa, already offers service between Atlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa (via Dakar, Senegal), and between New York-JFK and Accra, Ghana.

"We are pleased to begin our next wave of service expansion between the United States and Africa," said Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president -- Network Planning and Revenue Management. "As a leader in global aviation, we continuously look to develop high potential new markets. Africa has a significant and rapidly growing demand, and we're proud to be the only U.S. airline to offer service to the continent.

"Whether you are flying for business or pleasure, we offer our customers a wide variety of destinations through the world's largest connecting gateway operated by Delta in Atlanta. No longer do you have to connect in a European gateway in order to fly to Nigeria."

During 2008, Delta will add a second daily nonstop flight between the United States and Nigeria with service between Lagos and New York-JFK, beginning June 9, 2008*. Delta also will add other African routes in 2008, including flights to Nairobi, Kenya (via Dakar, effective June 2)*; Cape Town, South Africa (via Dakar, effective June 3)*; and Cairo, Egypt (effective June 4)*. With this expansion, Delta will serve a total of seven African cities in six countries.

Delta's Lagos service is one of six new trans-Atlantic routes to be launched this year, strengthening Delta's presence as a leading carrier across the Atlantic. The flight is an integral part of the airline's strategy of international growth to offer more nonstop departures to more destinations worldwide.

Delta customers flying to Nigeria will enjoy the comfort of the widebody Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with the capacity to carry up to 214 passengers, 36 of which are in Delta's award-winning BusinessElite(r) class, featuring all-leather sleeper seats with 152 cm of legroom, innovative food offerings designed by celebrity chefs and industry-leading, on-demand personal in-seat entertainment. Economy class customers also will benefit from new all-leather economy seats, amenity kits, enhanced food offerings and a complimentary cocktail with each meal.

Flights between Atlanta and Lagos are scheduled as follows:

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Flight  Departs               Arrives                   Effective         Frequency



50      Atlanta at 4:30 p.m   Lagos at 9:25 a.m.**      Dec. 3, 2007       Daily



57      Lagos at 11:25 a.m.   Atlanta at 6:20 p.m.      Dec. 4, 2007       Daily



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** arrives next day

Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 317 destinations in 55 countries. Since 2005, Delta has added more international capacity than any other major U.S. airline is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 35 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers nearly 500 weekly flights to 58 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 479 worldwide destinations in 104 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.

*Service subject to foreign government approval.

The Delta Air Lines, Inc. logo is available at 

CONTACT:  Delta Air Lines 



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Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 04.12.2007 00:20

EezeeBee  Villager

# 2 I'm curious: How much is flying this route? Or more specifically, will it cost just the same as me travelling from the US, wasting my time in Europe and then coming to Nigeria? Will it be a similar cost flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles as it does flying from Atlanta to Lagos? Or maybe proportionally more based on distance differential? Lastly, will the passengers receive dignified service before, during and after the flight? I'll look forward to learning the answers to these and other questions. All said, it's a welcome addition to the options available for traveling between Nigeria and the U.S. Posted by EezeeBee| 04.12.2007 01:20

Aristarchy  Villager

# 3 I believe the website www.delta.com will answer all your questions. Posted by Aristarchy| 04.12.2007 05:00

Zanderlex  Villager

# 4 Thank you Delta for the service, We don't really care about the price. Simply be fair and we pay the price....... It is our tradition. Nigerians are no church rats in US!!!!!. Posted by Zanderlex| 04.12.2007 06:58

olivio  JJC

# 5 i care about price seeing as i am not made of money Posted by olivio| 04.12.2007 09:33

dele26  Villager

# 6 =Zanderlex;4294969177>Thank you Delta for the service, We don't really care about the price. Simply be fair and we pay the price....... It is our tradition. Nigerians are no church rats in US!!!!!. Thank you Mr. Kahkahki!!!!!!! Posted by dele26| 04.12.2007 16:45