Delta Air Lines has announced it will launch direct flights between Abuja and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, via Dakar, Senegal effective 11 June 2009, following government approval.
The flight, which starts twice weekly and moves to three times weekly in July, will be the only direct service from Nigeria’s capital city to the United States and will offer passengers convenient connections via Delta’s New York JFK hub to around 50 business and leisure destinations throughout the United States including Washington DC, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston and Chicago. 
“We are delighted to add Abuja to our industry-leading Africa network”, said Bobby Bryan, Delta’s commercial manager for West and East Africa.  “Our Abuja service will be the second city Delta serves in Nigeria and will further strengthen commercial ties and opportunities between Nigeria and the United States.  We have already seen a high demand for our nonstop service between Lagos and Atlanta and, as a result, will upgrade our equipment serving that route to a B777-200 aircraft this summer.”
The new Abuja service will be in a two class configuration with up to 174 seats, 16 in Delta’s award winning BusinessElite class and 158 seats in economy. 
Customers flying Delta’s BusinessElite service will experience food offerings from celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein, original wine selections chosen by Delta’s Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson and a wide range of in-flight entertainment options with Delta’s on Demand entertainment system.
Delta will increase the capacity on its Lagos to Atlanta flight and operate a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft effective 2 July.  The flight will operate a two class configuration offering Delta’s business and economy class service and will seat up to 268 passengers and the airline is yet the leading airline connecting Africa to the U.S.
By June 2009, Delta will be the only carrier to operate service between North, East, South and West Africa and the United States and will operate from nine cities in seven African countries. Delta currently operates flights from Cairo, Accra, Dakar, Cape Town, and Johannesburg.
Delta flights between Nigeria and the U.S. are available for booking now, via travel agents, or via Delta’s dedicated Nigerian reservations team on 01 279 9000.
From its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City, Amsterdam and Tokyo-Narita, Delta, its Northwest subsidiary and Delta Connection carriers offer service to 368 destinations in 66 countries and serve more than 170 million passengers each year. Delta’s marketing alliances allow customers to earn and redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks on more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners.