With the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority finally approving the new route, United Airlines will launch its new Washington, DC – Lagos, Nigeria service in late November. Tickets are now on sale.
United Airlines Washington – Lagos Route Now Approved, For Sale
Lagos is a strategic gateway to West Africa, homeland to many immigrant residents in Northern Virginia, and a key city for the oil business. United previously served Lagos from Houston (IAH), but suspended the service in 2016.
The new route was originally announced in September 2020, but has not launched due to an extended approval process from the Nigerian government (versus the pandemic). But the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority recently green-lighted the new route, which is now available for sale:
The flight will operate according to the following schedule:
- UA612 – departs Washington (IAD) at 6:30pm, arrives Lagos (LOS) at 10:40am
- 10 hours, 10 minutes
- Boeing 787-8
- UA613 – departs Lagos (LOS) at 11:50pm, arrives Washington (IAD) at 6:00am
- 12 hours, 10 minutes
- Boeing 787-8
The new service will operate Monday, Thursday, and Saturday to Lagos and Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from Lagos. It isn’t clear how and why the extra segment comes into play, but the aircraft will sit on the ground for 13 hours in Lagos. A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will be used on the new route, featuring:
- Business Class – 28 seats
- Premium Economy – 21 seats
- Economy Class – 194
- Economy Plus – 36
- United Economy – 158
United will compete with Delta Air Lines on this route, which offers service to Lagos from New York.
Patrick Quayle, United’s Vice President of International Network and Alliances, said:
“This new flight to Lagos has been highly anticipated by our customers and offers the first ever nonstop service between Washington, D.C. and Nigeria, as well as convenient, one-stop connections to over 80 destinations throughout the Americas including Houston and Chicago. On behalf of all of United we’d like to offer our sincere thanks to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and U.S. Department of Transportation for supporting our plans to provide this service.”
CONCLUSION
After a four year gap of no service to Africa, United’s route network will include service to Lagos, Accra (ACC), Johannesburg (JNB), and Cape Town (CPT). The new Lagos service is available for purchase, with fares starting at $1,048 r/t in economy class, $2,258 in premium economy, and $4,386 in business class.
United flew from iad to both Lagos and Accra from 2010 to 2012 or so, then from Houston to Lagos from late 2011 or 2012 I think until 2015 or 2016. They resumed Africa service 2 years ago with their EWR-Cape Town route.
I don’t think United never flew to LOS from IAD. Before their merger with Continental United only operated IAD-ACC on a 767-300 which from what I heard was always weight restricted in both directions.
Correct, just IAH – LOS IRRC.
No. That’s incorrect. United flew from Washington Dulles to Accra and Lagos in 2010-2011. It didn’t last until 2012 so I was wrong on that front. This article talks about United’s experience in those markets in 2010-2011 and why they were excited about launching Lagos from Houston after an unsuccessful stint from Dulles. https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/united-airlines-eager-to-tap-expected-growth-in-us-africa-market-65431
Sounds about right, lol.
Is Nigeria still considered pretty dangerous to visit due to crime etc? I have heard some proper horror stories about it, but all of them are from quite a few years back. I have only been to Senegal and I’m planning to explore more of Africa in the near future (probably starting in early 2022 with one of the two lusophone countries in the South) and, while I certainly want to explore and will be avoiding sanitised experiences in luxury resorts, I also don’t want to find myself in super risky situations.
From what I heard, UA-NYC was quite mad at why United would fly to a country with a less than 3% vaccination rate, but is ok with it when she later realized white republican Texans and Floridians don’t actually live in Nigeria.
Dave Edwards is apparently both cross-dressing AND -posting these days
Do you really have nothing better to do with your life than to troll sites like this?
Hey Matthew, I flew through Denver today and the United Club East was closed. Do you have any idea why this is? The Denver clubs are always packed, so assume it isn’t because of lack of demand. Are they remodeling?
Does anyone know if you can go through security at LAX in a terminal that you aren’t departing from?
I am departing from T7 tomorrow but want to visit the star alliance lounge, can I go through security in T4 or TBIT?
Yes you can