Arik Air extends route network to Kinshasa .

By Sade Williams (BusinessDay)

Arik Air, West and Central Africa’s largest commercial carrier, is expanding its regional African network with the addition of new flight services from Lagos, Nigeria to Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The flight, which will operate twice weekly, Wednesday and Sunday, means Kinshasa has now become Arik Air’s third destination in Central Africa, following the inclusion of flights to Luanda, Angola in 2011 and Douala, Cameroon in August this year.

The new Lagos-Kinshasa service will operate via Douala, Cameroon with outbound flights departing from the Murtala  Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 11:10 am (local time) and arriving at Douala International Airport at 12:40 pm (local time).

Flights will then continue onto Kinshasa, departing from Douala at 1:25 pm (local time) and arriving at N’djili International Airport, Kinshasa at 3:25 pm (local time).

The return flights will leave Kinshasa at 4:10 pm (local time), arriving in Douala at 6:10 pm (local time) and will thereafter leave Douala at 6:55 pm (local time), arriving in Lagos at 8:25 pm (local time). The Lagos to Kinshasa route will be served with a Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft. The 737-700 is a two class compartment and the configuration is 12 Business Class seats and 112 Economy Class. Business Class passengers will enjoy a 44” seat pitch with cradle style seats, while Economy Class passengers will have plenty of room on the flight with a generous seat pitch of 34”.

Arik Air’s Managing Director/Executive Vice President, Chris Ndulue said: “Kinshasa is our 12th African destination and this underscores the airline’s commitment to linking the African markets for proper integration of the continent.