Delta Airlines has restated its commitment to the Nigerian market despite the harsh economic situation that has seen airlines leave the country leading Delta to be the only American airline flying from Lagos to the United States.
Commercial Director, East and West Africa Delta Airlines, Mr. Bobby Bryan made this known earlier yesterday as he revealed that the airline was in Nigeria for the long haul and recession or not there was still a huge potential in the market.
According to Bryan when responding to questions about the sustainability of the airline’s operations on the Nigerian route, the airline has recognized the huge potential in the Nigerian market as well as its staff especially in Nigeria that has made the airline thrive.
Bryan explained that it has not been easy for airlines in the country to repatriate their funds and thanked the Federal government for aiding them in taking back some of their funds home but urged government to do more so they can get all their money.
“Government has done a lot in aiding us repatriate our funds and let me stress, this is not profit we are talking about; this is our operational capital and we are thankful to them for all they have done. We however want them to do more so we can get all our funds.”
On how the airline has tackled the recession, Bryan explained that Delta has had to adjust but that the airline was not leaving the country.
“One word on how we have been able to adjust, planning. Yes, we have had to adjust cutting a few flights but we are not planning on going anywhere and we will not go anywhere because in truth the past few months there have been some stability and things may start improving although our biggest challenge the forex issue has not gone anywhere, but we are hopeful.”
On passenger traffic, the Delta Director said that the airline was soon to airlift its one millionth since it commenced operations in 2007 as it was currently doing 978,377.
“Total number of weekly seats we offer from LOS-ATL average of 2,900 combined for both directions (1,400 each way) based on July 2017 schedule
The average load factor of our LOS-ATL flight for 2016 flown LF was 73%. In 2015 it was 83%. The number of passengers carried since December 2007 (both ways) through the end of August 2016, we’ve carried 978,377. We’ll carry the 1 millionth customer sometime in December!” he declared
On some of the airline’s innovation to make travel more enjoyable and comfortable, he explained that Delta’s culture of continuous innovation is core to the airline’s ability to create a seamless travel experience for the business and leisure customer alike.
According to him in 2017 Lagos is likely to witness improvements in baggage tracking by customers via their mobile app so they can know where their baggage is and have some rest of minds while on their flights.
He said, “Improvements across the business help take the stress out of travel, like implementing Radio Frequency Identification baggage tracking . And Delta customers now track their bag’s last scanned location on the Fly Delta mobile app. “
“The new map enhancement builds on new RFID bag tags and the roll out of RFID tracking technology at 84 airports in the U.S. All domestic stations now offer map view of the bag’s journey and international stations will receive this technology. We will likely see RFID rolled out in Lagos in 2017. “
PIX Commercial Director, East and West Africa, Delta Air Lines Bobby Bryan (middle) flanked by Station Manager, Delta Air Lines Salami Omeiza, (left) and General Manager, Skylogistics Limited Sefia Emuejevoke, (right) during the Delta Air Lines media lunch in Lagos.
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