Abuja, located in the centre of the country, is a planned city built largely during the 1980s which replaced Lagos as Nigeria's capital in 1991. It is the seat of the Federal Government and home to most of Nigeria's institutions, including the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Abuja is also the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and the regional headquarters of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The new service will help create new opportunities for business, industry and tourism.
The airline's group managing director and chief executive officer, Dr Titus Naikuni, said that the introduction of direct flights to Abuja was an illustration of the airline's commitment towards supporting the continent's development by facilitating intra-African trade, tourism and interactions between different regions.
"This is in line with our long term growth strategy, through which we aim to fly to every African capital by 2016. We are already a premier African airline boasting of the largest network of destinations in the continent," Dr Naikuni added.
Africa is a key market for Kenya Airways. Out of the 62 destinations that Kenya Airways currently flies to, over 40 are in Africa. The continent (excluding Kenya) contributed about 52% of the airline's revenue, according to its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2013.
Abuja becomes the second Nigerian city that Kenya Airways flies into and currently the airline has a daily service of ten flights of which seven are direct to Lagos.
The introduction of the flights to Abuja follows a review of the Bilateral Service Agreements by the Kenyan and Nigerian governments in 2013.
