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Virgin Nigeria rebrands, now
Nigerian Eagle Airline
By UCHE USIM & FRIDAY NWOSU
Friday, September 18,
2009
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Virgin Nigeria Airways, one of the nation’s flag carriers,
has begun a rebranding campaign, adopting Nigerian Eagle Airline
as its new name.
Besides the new name, the airline says it will also wear new symbols,
uniforms and colours, though its mother company, Virgin Atlantic
Airways still has 49 per cent stake in the business.
Briefing journalists at the presidential lounge of the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport on Thursday in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer
of the airline, Captain Dapo Olumide, said it took the airline five
months to come out with the new name, adding that it wanted something
that would portray the African culture, which Nigerians could be
proud of.
According him, the change of name and logo, which took effect from
today would gradually be effected in all the airports in the country.
He said it would take about two years for the airline to complete
the rebranding process.
He further hinted that the airline would storm the stock market
in six weeks time to raise funds, pointing out that already about
25 investors had indicated interest in the company.
Olumide said the airline is at liberty to sell off Virgin Atlantic’s
49 per cent shares if it so desired.
He said: “You know the company, Nike had the name and also
the symbol. If you noticed, today they have removed the name and
it is just that swooping sign is left and to you that means Nike.
It shows they’ve created a brand. Addidas did the same thing.
“From today, the name of Virgin Nigeria Airways ceases after
this presentation, you will see that we have created a brand. We
intend to form an airline and create a brand at the same time. This
is not done in the airline industry. This is a lot of work that
had started in February and it is just been concluded. One of the
first things we did in Virgin Nigeria was to restructure the airline
to stabilise and to come up with a five-year-plan that would be
sustainable. Today is the birth of a new airline. African aviation
will only ever be developed by Africans.”
On the airline’s huge indebtedness to United Bank for Africa
(UBA), the Virgin Nigeria boss hinted that plans were afoot to offset
the debt, describing it as a manageable and serviceable one.
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