BA Acquires 72 Aircraft to Boost Operations in Africa

British Airways has announced that it will soon acquire 72 new aircraft to boost flight operations in Africa, particularly Nigeria. Mr Kola Olayinka, BA Country Commercial Manager for West Africa, told newsmen at a briefing on Thursday in Ikeja that the new aircraft would be acquired before end-2014.
Olayinka said that the acquisition of the aircraft would enable the airline expand its existing network in Africa and open up new routes on the continent.
BA currently operates 85 flights a week to 14 African destinations, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya.



Orders have been booked for 12 Airbus 380s, 24 Boeing 787s; six Boeing 777-300 ERs and 10 Airbus 320s aircraft and some are already delivered.
According the Commercial Manager, no fewer than 20 modern aircraft will also join the growing fleet of the airline by the end of 2014. “These modern aircraft will gradually replace some of the older, less fuel-efficient aircraft in the BA fleet and allow the management to add new destinations and improve schedules.
In West Africa, he said, “we increased our services to Ghana to 10 a week, and plan to increase to 11 by October 2014. We have also increased capacity to Kenya by introducing Boeing 747-400s on the route, larger aircraft that provide over 780 additional seats every week.”