Temi-Tope Ogbeni-Awe, AfricaNews reporter in Lagos, Nigeria
Delta Air Lines has launched the first direct service between Abuja International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The service, which starts twice weekly and moves to three times weekly effective July 1, is the only direct service from the capital city to the US.

“Delta is delighted to expand our presence in the Nigerian market to serve two cities and further strengthen the business and tourism links between Nigeria and the United States”, said Bobby Bryan, Delta’s commercial manager for West and East Africa. “Our new service will offer our passengers with more than 45 convenient connections to popular destinations such as Washington DC, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston and Chicago.”
Delta will operate the service using a Boeing 757-200 ETOPS aircraft with 174 seats; 16 in business class and 158 in economy. Its departing and arriving flights operate via Dakar, Senegal.
Delta is the leading airline connecting Africa to the U.S. Delta currently operates flights from Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa. It is the world’s largest airline. From its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and Tokyo-Narita, Delta, its Northwest subsidiary and Delta Connection carriers offer service to 370 destinations in 66 countries and serve more than 170 million passengers each year.