Bristow Africa’s new jet charter service between Lagos and Port Harcourt has grown steadily since its launch in November 2015, with passengers praising the reliability, convenience and comfort of the new flights. Regular clients include oil and gas, logistics, shipping and infrastructure development companies, and groups booking private VIP charter flights.

“We’ve seen growing interest in the flights as clients are drawn to the services’ exceptional 98-percent on-time departure record and the convenience of operating into Port Harcourt Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base, which is closer to many of our clients’ business destinations,” said Seni Sulyman, manager of strategy and business development at Bristow Nigeria. “Port Harcourt’s NAF base is also the base of many offshore helicopter operations, making connections for crews working offshore a seamless travel experience.”

Utilizing 37-passenger Embraer 135 regional jets, Bristow currently operates four daily flights between private terminal facilities at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed Airport and Port Harcourt Nigerian Air Force base. Corporate clients can book any number of seats on each flight, or charter the entire aircraft. Flights are conveniently scheduled with early morning and dusk departures to maximize a full business day, and a dedicated backup aircraft supports the flight schedule to ensure highly reliable on-time departures. Bristow plans to expand the VIP service and commence flights to Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the first quarter of 2016.

Bristow’s private terminal facilities have newly constructed business lounges with comfortable seating, free internet service, complimentary refreshments and dedicated customer service personnel. The flights are configured in a two-by-one seating arrangement with every traveller having an aisle or window seat.

Clients are praising the new service. “Our flights were very pleasant,” said a manager at a major oil company. “Arriving at NAF Base instead of the main airport was a big plus for me as it takes away the security issues and logistics involved in travelling from one place to the other, and also ensures that the flights to the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels are not held up. It was a very good service that I’m keen to support as we go forward.”

The service is the culmination of many years of work and targets what Bristow sees as a growing demand for reliable, integrated aviation services in Nigeria and around the world, similar to what Bristow offers through Eastern Airways in the U.K., Airnorth in Australia and Lider Aviacao in Brazil. With recent acquisitions of premium regional air carriers, Bristow provides fixed-wing with rotary-wing flight connectivity to provide convenient point-to-point scheduled and charter transportation services for clients transporting workers offshore. For more information about Bristow Africa’s jet charter service, contact fixedwingdesk@bristowgroup.com or call +234 (01) 2716736 ext. 204.