United Airlines inaugurates Lagos
United Airlines has inaugurated flights between Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS). The airline will be flying a Boeing 787-8 on the route three times per week. On Monday, at Dulles, the airline sent the flight off with a grand celebration and reached the next chapter in the airline’s Africa expansion.
On Monday, November 29th, United Airlines officially inaugurated flights to Lagos from Washington D.C. First announced in September 2020, the route finally went on sale a year later and launched today. It marked the airline’s third route launch to Africa this year.
The flight will operate three times per week from the carrier’s Dulles hub on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The airline has scheduled its flights to run on 243-seat Boeing 787-8s. These planes feature 28 of the airline’s newest Polaris lie-flat hard product. There are also 21 premium economy seats onboard.
United also offers two economy products on this plane: 36 extra-legroom economy seats and 158 standard economy seats. Polaris is in a 1-2-1 configuration, giving all passengers direct aisle access. Premium economy, which is similar to a domestic recliner-style first class cabin, is in a 2-3-2 configuration. Lastly, the economy cabin is in a 3-3-3 configuration.
According to data from RadarBox.com, the flight took off from IAD at 19:02. At the time of writing, the aircraft was expected to land in Lagos at 10:48 (all times local). This works out to a flight time of just under ten hours.
At gate C1 in IAD, the mood was quite celebratory. As is traditional with long-haul international route launches, United organized a traditional performance filled with song and dance. Several passengers even got involved, turning the gate area around C1 into a festive preflight celebration.
A special Yoruba (Oyo) dance for a kings and queens, United's esteemed passengers
